Multimodal connectivity would be win-win for India-Bangladesh, says Haranadh
The Government is prioritising maritime development to enable ports to identify and resolve bottlenecks in enhancing multimodal connectivity while nine ports will be monetized in 2022-25.
Addressing the PM GatiShakti Multimodal Maritime Summit 2022, Minister of State Shantanu Thakur highlighted the targets for the Ministry of Ports, underlining that assets spread across nine major ports have been considered for monetisation between FY22-25 under the National Monetisation Programme.
The Government is ensuring the seamless movement of people and goods and driving it with key engines of growth, namely, railways, roads, ports, waterways, airports, mass transport and logistics, said Thakur.
Speaking about the PM GatiShakti masterplan on 23 Nov 2022, the Minister of State for Ports, Shipping and Waterways, underscored that the initiative would accrue huge benefits to the state government by streamlining project timeframes.
He noted that the Ministry of Ports has the most critical role in the master plan, and Kolkata, which hosts the country’s oldest port, could play a pivotal role in realising the goal ‘if we work together’.
Thakur pointed out that 11 industrial corridors and two defence industrial corridors are planned for development to improve the operational efficiency and capacity utilisation of existing port assets.
“GatiShakti essentially is a conceptual regional framework to build infrastructure to provide seamless connectivity through multimodal means,” added Gopal Krishna, Principal Program Advisor, Cross Border Infrastructure and Connectivity Program (CBIC), USAID, and Former Secretary, Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways.
PL Haranadh, Chairman, Syama Prasad Mookerjee Port, emphasised harnessing the potential of India’s north-eastern states and noted that multimodal connectivity would be a win-win situation for both India and Bangladesh. fiinews.com
