Lok Sabha Question No. 353 (STARRED), answered on 2020-03-18
Subject: Coastal Export Infrastructure
Ministry: COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY
Asked by: Pinaki Misra

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF COMMERCE & INDUSTRY

## (DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE)

## LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO. 353

## TO BE ANSWERED ON 18 th MARCH, 2020 TO BE ANSWERED ON 18

## COASTAL EXPORT INFRASTRUCTURE

## *353. SHRI PINAKI MISRA:

Will the Minister of COMMERCE & INDUSTRY ( वािण�य एवं उ�ोग मं�ी ) be pleased to state:

- (a) whether any measures are being taken by the Government to boost export infrastructure along coastal region in the country;
- (b) if so, the details thereof;
- (c) whether the procedural aspects related to exporting goods are in line with the best global practices and the time taken in this regard globally;
- (d) if so, the details thereof; and
- (e) if  not, whether there are any plans to reduce the time taken with respect to procedural aspects of exporting?

## ANSWER

okf.kT; ,oa m|ksx ea=h ( Jh ih;w'k xks;y ) THE MINISTER OF  COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY (SHRI PIYUSH GOYAL)

(a) to (e):  A Statement is laid on the Table of the House.

*****

## STATEMENT REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PARTS (a) to (e) OF LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO. 353 FOR ANSWER ON 18 th MARCH, 2020 REGARDING ' COASTAL EXPORT INFRASTRUCTURE '.

(a) & (b) : Government of India has many sector specific schemes to boost infrastructure including that in coastal regions of the country. Some of the flagship schemes are mentioned below:

## SAGARMALA PROGRAMME-

The Sagarmala Programme is focusing on the following:

- a) Port Modernization & New Port Development: De-bottlenecking and capacity expansion of existing ports and development of new greenfield ports.
- b) Port Connectivity Enhancement: Enhancing the connectivity of the ports to the hinterland, optimizing  cost  and  time  of  cargo  movement  through  multi-modal  logistics  solutions including domestic waterways (inland water transport and coastal shipping).
- c) Port-linked  Industrialization: Developing port-proximate  industrial  clusters  and  Coastal Economic Zones to reduce logistics cost and time of EXIM and domestic cargo.
- d) Coastal  Community  Development: Promoting  sustainable  development  of  coastal communities through skill development & livelihood generation activities, fisheries development, coastal tourism etc.

## BHARATMALA PARIYOJANA

Under  the  Bharatmala  Pariyojana  (Phase-I)  of  the  Ministry  of  Road  Transport  and  Highways, development of about 9,000 kms of Economic corridors, about 6,000 kms of Inter-corridor and feeder roads, about 5,000 kms of National Corridors Efficiency improvements, about 2,000 kms of Border and International connectivity roads, about 2,000 kms of Coastal and port connectivity roads, about  800  kms  of  Expressways  and  about  10,000  kms  of  roads  under  National  Highways Development Project (NHDP), has been taken up. Six road projects with an aggregate length of about 168 kms at a  cost of about Rs. 1842 Crores have been awarded under Coastal and port connectivity roads component of the Bharatmala Pariyojana upto February, 2020.

(c), (d) & (e) : India`s latest ranking on Trading Across Border has risen from 133rd in 2016 to 68 th in 2020 as per the Ease of Doing Business, 2020 Report of the World Bank. As per this report, time taken for border compliance for exports and imports improved significantly during this period.

The port operation procedures for export of goods are in line with the best global practices with simple, user friendly port formalities. Some of the improved practices and technologies adopted at important  Ports  including  Jawaharlal  Nehru  Port  (JNPT),  Navi  Mumbai,  which  is  handling  the highest volume of EXIM containers, is attached as Annexure I.

Internal linkages among Indian Customs Electronic Gateway (ICEGATE), Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) and other systems has enabled customs clearances to be processed online. India is also a signatory to the Agreement on Trade Facilitation, which inter alia includes formalities connected with importation, exportation and Transit.

*****

Annexure-I referred to in reply to Parts (c), (d) and (e)  of Lok Sabha Starred Question No. 353 raised by Shri Pinaki Misra to be answered on 18-03-2020 regarding Coastal Export Infrastructure

## IMPROVED PRACTICES AND TECHNOLOGIES ADOPTED BY IN IMPORTANT PORTS.

## 1. Direct Port Entry (DPE) -

The  Direct  Port  Entry  (DPE)  is  the  facility  created  for  exporters  to  bring  in  the  export containers directly to port instead of routing it through CFS wherein they used to get customs approval and then used to proceed to terminal gates.  Measures  which  were  taken  with Customs to facilitate DPE are like Creation of Customs Processing Zones & Development of centralized Parking Plaza.

## 2. Container Scanners -

8 Container Scanners have been installed not only at Jawaharlal Nehru Port (JNPT), but also at Visakhapatnam Port Trust (VPT), Kolkata Port Trust (KoPT), Kamarajar Port Limited (KPL), New Mangalore Port Trust (NMPT) and Paradip Port Trust (PPT), for faster scanning of EXIM containers to reduce port's Dwell Time.

## 3. Port Community System (PCS) -

A centralized web-based Port Community System has been operationalized across all Major Ports which enables seamless information flow between the various stakeholders through a common interface.

## 4. Elimination of Manual Forms -

Manual forms used for access to terminals have in some ports been replaced by Web based e -forms. This has cut down the waiting time for container at the port gate and enabled faster evacuation of cargo and reduced congestion at the port gates.

## 5. Development of Centralized Parking Plaza at JNPT -

The JNPT is developing a Centralized Parking Plaza to provide parking facility for trucks carrying export containers and enable completing pre-gate entry formalities and documentation for export thereby decongesting the JNPT roads.

## 6. New e-Rubber Tyre Gantry Cranes (RTGCs) -

JNPT has commissioned 15 new e-Rubber Tyre Gantry Cranes (RTGCs) to improve export efficiency  &  faster  loading  operation,  that  has  increased  the  productivity  of  stacking containers.

## 7. Common Rail Yard to handle DFC rakes -

JNPT has already undertaken infrastructure work for modifications of Common Rail Yard to handle DFC rakes.

********