Maiden Maritime India Summit draws enthusiastic investor response
140 agreements signed; Adanis, Jindals, Essar, Vedanta announce investment plans.
Two days of hectic activity at the first ever Maritime India Summit in Mumbai has resulted in attracting investments worth Rs 82,905 crores. A total of 141 MoUs and Business Agreements were signed by various players in maritime sector including Major Ports, State Maritime Boards and PSUs like Shipping Corporation of India, Cochin Shipyard Limited, Inland Waterways Authority of India etc.
Projects for which agreements have been signed cover a wide spectrum of activities including
- -Modernisation of existing ports and establishment of new ones.
- -Development and extension of Inland Waterways.
- -Enhancement of cargo handling capacity of Indian ports.
- -Improving hinterland connectivity of ports through road and rail network.
- -Upgradation of educational and training facilities for maritime sector.
One major agreement relates to establishment of a greenfield port at Vadhavan, Maharashtra. Phase – I of the Project is estimated to be around Rs 9167 crores. An MoU for the project was signed between Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust and Maharashtra Maritime Board.
To give boost to inland water transport, Government of Andhra Pradesh entered into an MoU with Inland Waterways Authority of India for development of National Waterway 4 at estimated cost of around Rs 3000 crs. Once developed, this waterway will help take off roads significant portion of cargo traffic. Mr Chandrababu Naidu, Hon’ble Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh was present on the occasion.
Gujarat Maritime Board will entered into an MoU with Shapoorji Pallonji Company for development of a new LNG Terminal costing around Rs 5411 crs at Chara. GMB will also inked an MoU with IL&FS for setting up a Maritime Services Cluster at GIFT City, Gandhinagar.
Visakhapatnam Port Trust signed an MoU with HPCL who plan to increase the capacity of Visakha Refinery from 7.50MMT to 15MMT at an estimated cost of Rs 18412 cr.
Shipping Corporation of India also signed a slew of agreements to enhance shipping capacity both inland as well international.
Indian Maritime University, the premier institution engaged in education and training of maritime personnel signed MoUs with 4 international institutions including Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Maritime University (BSMRMU), Dhaka, Bangladesh; Institute of Chartered Shipbrokers (ICS) and Plymouth University, U.K and Admiral G.I. Nevelskoi Maritime State University (AGINMSU), Vladivostok, Russia.
IMU also entered into an MoU with Andaman & Nicobar administration for establishment of training facilities in A& N Islands.
PIB Mum | MD
‘Hinterland Connectivity and Multimodal Logistics’ session at Maritime India Summit 2016 on 15th April, 2016
SAGARMALA alone can bring down the logistics cost to 10% – Shipping Minister
The ‘Hinterland Connectivity and Multimodal Logistics’session held today at Maritime India Summit 2016 focused on the opportunities and challenges in Hinterland connectivity to ports to efficiently transport container and bulk traffic from and to the ports. The session was chaired by Union Minister for Shipping, Shri Nitin Gadkari and co-chaired by Minister of State for Railways, Shri Manoj Sinha and Member NITI Aayog, Shri Bibek Debroy.
Shri Gadkari in his opening remarks said that integrated development of all modes of transportation is necessary for reducing logistics costs. He said that the implementation of SAGARMALA alone can bring down the logistics cost to 10%. The SAGARMALA project will be fast tracked for completion from 10 to 5 years and offers investment opportunities of Rs. 12 Lakhs Crores.
Minister of State for Railways , Shri Manoj Sinha, elaborated on the steps taken by the railways to improve the connectivity to the Ports. He said that the dedicated Eastern and Western freight corridors are expected to be ready by 2019-20 and that CONCOR will create 15 more logistics hubs. Shri Bibek Debroy, Member NITI Aayog, pointed out that the developed nations spend about 15% of the GDP on infrastructure whereas for India it is around 7%. This needed to be enhanced further.
The 12 Major ports with the current projects for capacity addition will require an additional 180 Kms of Rail and 300 Kms of Road for smooth hinterland connectivity.
The deliberations brought forth the opportunities in road and rail infrastructure development for hinterland connectivity and development of Multimodal Logistics Parks for reducing transportation logistic cost. The panel for the session was of opinion that the efficient multimodal transportation has high potential to reduce per unit transportation cost.
RG (MD)
