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Mr Joseph said the private sector would be encouraged to come out with commercially viable proposals for the development of IWT and other projects.

Kolkata , Sept. 25

THE Shipping Ministry will soon approach the Union Cabinet for securing in-principle approvals for firming up policies, programmes and procedures for the development of the inland water transport and other projects under the proposed Sagarmala programme.

Giving this information here on Thursday, Mr D.T. Joseph, Shipping Secretary, said the objective was to achieve segmentation of operation for the development of IWT and other port and marine related projects under the proposed Sagarmala such that the Government's role was restricted to that of a regulator, while commercial operations ownership and operation of the vessels as well as marketing was left to the private hands.

"The government organisations are very bad in procuring business," he said and cited the example of the State-owned Central Inland Water Transport Corporation whose vessels were held up in Assam for several months due to dearth of cargo.

Indicating that 85 per cent of the estimated Rs 1,00,000 crore under Sagarmala would be raised by way of private sector participation, Mr Joseph made it clear that the private sector would be encouraged to come out with commercially viable proposals for the development of IWT and other projects.

"We might also suggest to the Cabinet to constitute a separate fund, something on the line of the erstwhile shipping development fund, for the promotion of IWT and coastal shipping," he said.

Earlier, while inaugurating a workshop on the implementation of the national IWT policy organised jointly by Kolkata Port Trust, Indian Register of Shipping and the Duffrein Rajendra Old Cadets Association, the Shipping Secretary observed that the policy and its implementation could not be separated. There could not be any such thing as good policy but bad implementation. "If the policy is good, there is no reason why its implementation should be difficult," he said.

He felt that new routes should be explored for the promotion of trade with Bangladesh by river. "India and Bangladesh should be able to work together in this regard for mutual benefit," he observed.

Mr K Shankar Narayanan, Chairman of the Inland Waterways Authority of India, said there were various issues relating to India-Bangladesh trade by the river route and the sharing of the river waters, which required to be addressed properly.

Capt J.C. Anand, Chairman of India Register of Shipping, said the construction of suitable vessels was most essential for the development of IWT and IRS could be of help to the builders of boats and rivercraft.

Dr A.K. Chanda, Chairman of Kolkata Port Trust, said Kolkata port was best suited for being developed into an IWT hub because the port was river port, though catering largely to the sea-borne trade. Its strength as a river port should be exploited fully, he observed.

Later, summing the proceedings of the workshop, Mr M.A. Bhaskarachar, Deputy Chairman of Kolkata port and Capt Anand identified issues that emerged as vital in course of the day-long deliberations. These included the need for construction of suitable vessels for the virtual jetty being built by the port at Sagar Island and creation of container handling facilities at Narayangunge in Bangladesh.

The barge operators demanded removal of ceiling of 1000-tonne capacity barges to be eligible to claim 30 per cent subsidy granted by the Central Government. The subsidy should be available for acquiring larger capacity barges.

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