Works on at Jalna and Sindi satellite ports

Modernisation and expansion works have commenced at several Mumbai ports including Nehru Port Terminal (JNPT), said Shipping Minister Nitin Gadkari.

Plans have also been drawn to increase the container handling capacity of JNPT to 1 crore containers, he disclosed.

JNPT cargo handling continued to show an upward trend, registering a growth of 6.18% in TEUs and 5.32% in tonnes for April-August 2017-18 compared to same period last year. During this period, JN Port handled 20.2 lakh TEUs of container traffic, as compared to 19.02 lakh TEUs in the corresponding period of the previous year.

Rail connectivity to JNPT is being implemented from Manmad and Indore via Dhulia and Nandurbar. It is being done by the Indian Port Rail Corporation Ltd.

Works were on for two satellite ports, one at Jalna near Aurangabad and the other at Sindi in Wardha.

Gadkari sees Rs.12 lakh crore investments in port-led developments in Maharashtra.

Among other development, plans are underway to connect Maharashtra to the North Eastern part of India, Bangladesh and other South East Asian nations such as Myanmar via Varanasi, Haldia and Bangladesh through water ways.

“We are doing dredging worth Rs.250 crore in Bangladesh. Overall, 7,500 km of seafront and 20,000 km inland waterways with 2,000 river ports are being envisaged,” he said.

This would reduce logistics costs by six percent and result in exports growing 1.5 times the existing number.

India is also expected to see its ports catering to about 950 cruises annually in the next few years.

Catamarans, sea planes and amphibious buses are also being thought of as alternative modes of transport in waterways.

Gadkari was addressing the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry meeting on ‘Progressive Maharashtra’ in Mumbai on 18 September 2017. fii-news.com