Ports across India asked to prepare a master plan to become a mega port by 2047. (Representative)
New Delhi:
Union Minister for Ports, Shipping and Waterways Sarbananda Sonowal on Tuesday asked all ports to prepare a master plan to become mega ports by 2047.
three days’Chintan Baithak’ The Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways (MoPSW) chaired by Mr. Sonowal concluded on Tuesday.
The meeting was organized with an aim to discuss and deliberate on the ideas and innovations that can propel India’s blue economy forward.
‘Chintan Baithak’ Shripad Yesso Naik and Shantanu Thakur, Ministers of State for Ports, Shipping and Waterways were co-chaired and the heads of all major ports and senior officials of MoPSW participated for brainstorming on boosting India’s maritime economy.
Speaking on the occasion, Mr Sonowal reiterated the Centre’s vision to develop and promote India’s blue economy. He further suggested that all the ports should prepare a master plan to become Mega Ports by 2047.
The meeting witnessed deliberations on various innovative projects like Buffer Parking Yard for Container Trailers, Smart Vessel Traffic Management System, 5G Network Pilot Project, Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) System for Oil Pipeline Operations, Automated Vehicle Scanning, RFID Gone. Personnel Scanning, Drone Surveillance, Green Warehousing System, Rejuvenation of Water Bodies etc.
The three-day meeting was divided into different sessions, focusing on the various aspects and prospects of the shipping industry as well as the role played by MoPSW towards the development of the country.
The issue of tariff fixation of existing BOT operators was discussed in the session on ‘Implementation of New Tariff Guidelines for Existing Projects and Ongoing Projects’. While the session on ‘Ensuring a level playing field between new and existing concessions in the context of new MCA’ discussed the challenges brought by the New MCA 2021 to bring in tariff dynamics based on market rates, which would result in a loss for the old players. became a non-level playing field.
The session on ‘IWT, Integration of Coastal and Exim Transport’ highlighted the potential benefits of improving port cargo through coastal and inland waterways transport in terms of cost savings and emission reduction. Coastal and IWT can become complementary modes of rail and road transport with a joint effort of the Central and State Governments.
The meeting also focused on ‘New Generation Automated Technologies’, in which application of various cutting edge technologies like Drone Surveillance, Internet of Things, Artificial Intelligence etc. can significantly improve operations at Indian ports.
A presentation on steps to be taken to compete with private/non-major ports talked about the increasing competition in the port sector and the position of major ports as compared to non-major ports in India.
Shri Sonowal suggested the major ports to draft land policy guidelines and explore the possibility of satellite presence outside the port limits. To make the SPV more efficient and effective, the Minister directed the officers to restructure the SPV so as to make them lean and agile to achieve the desired objectives.
He also emphasized on enhancing the operational performance of Dredging Corporation of India and the importance of multimodal connectivity.
In order to enhance the performance of the port, Shri Sonowal suggested all the ports to develop an independent feedback mechanism to identify the gaps and resolve them in consultation with all the stakeholders. It also proposed 100 per cent financial assistance for developing dedicated coastal berths at ports and offering more berths in PPP mode through the Sagarmala programme.
It was suggested by the Minister that all the ports should explore ways to adopt the intervention of VHF technology at their ports. Discussions were also held on the Green Ports Policy, which will be applicable to all major and non-major ports of India. The draft policy also suggested that port authorities may explore the option of project financing through multi-lateral development banks/ other financial institutions/ any green financing agencies.
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