Lok Sabha Question No. 1868 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2016-07-28
Subject: Shipping Industries
Ministry: SHIPPING
Asked by: ABHIJIT MUKHERJEE

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF SHIPPING

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 1868 TO BE ANSWERED ON 28 th JULY, 2016 SHIPPING INDUSTRIES

## 1868. SHRI ABHIJIT MUKHERJEE:

Will the Minister of SHIPPING be pleased to state :

## पोतप�रवहनमंत्

- (a) the details of new projects introduced by the Government for the shipping industries in the country;
- (b) whether the Government proposes to improve infrastructure with a view to make process of shipment easier and smoother;
- (c) if so, the details thereof;
- (d) whether the Government proposes to improve inland waterways transport system in the country; and
- (e) if so, the details thereof?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF SHIPPING (SHRI PON. RADHAKRISHNAN)

(a):    The  Indian  Shipping  industry  is  operated/managed  by  entrepreneurs  from  public  and  private  sectors.  The acquisition of ship in private sector is solely a commercial decision taken independently by the entrepreneurs. The Shipping Corporation of India (SCI), the only Central Public Sector shipping company having 'Navratna' status since 1 st August, 2008, takes its own investment decisions.

(b)&(c):To  enhance  the  port-connectivity  (for  both  major  and  non-major  ports)  to  country's  production  and consumption centres, more than 80 connectivity projects have been identified under the SagarmalaProgramme at an  estimated  infrastructure  investment  of  more  than  Rs.  2  Lac  Crore.  This  includes  last  mile  road  and  railconnectivity  infrastructure  to  the  ports,  freight  expressways,  heavy  haul  rail  project  to  transport  coal,  new pipelines for transporting crude and petroleum products, development of prioritized inland waterways and new multi-modal logistics hubs.

Besides this, Master Plan for all the twelve Major Ports have been prepared and projects for modernization and capacity addition have been identified for implementation. For improving efficiency of operation in Major Ports more than 100 initiatives have been identified based on operational benchmarking study.

During 2014-15 & 2015-16, a total of 56 Projects have been awarded by Major Ports involving investment of Rs. 25878.24 crore and capacity addition 317.33 MTPA. Another 33 Projects with an investment of Rs. 13123 crore and involving capacity addition of 102 MTPA have been taken for award during the current year 2016-17.

(d)&(e):Yes, Madam. The Jal Marg Vikas  Project is being implemented with  technical and financial support of World Bank at a total cost of approximately Rs. 4200 crore for   capacity augmentation of National Waterway - 1 from Haldia to Allahabad with an objective to facilitate movement of at least 1500 tonne vessels. Development of fairway and construction of multimodal terminals at Varanasi, Sahibganj and Haldia are included in the Project. To  improve  Inland  Waterways  Transport  system  in  the  country,  106  new  waterways  have  been  declared  as National  Waterways  (NW)  under  the  National  Waterways  Act,  2016  in  addition  to  the  existing  five  NWs.  In addition  to  waterways  that  are  already  operational,  these  new    waterways  are    to  be  developed  in  a  phased manner.

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