The Hindu Business Line : Maritime university to be anchored in Chennai

The Shipping Ministry proposes to set up a Maritime University with the main objective of fostering excellence in various connected areas, according to Mr T.R.Baalu, Union Minister of Shipping, Road Transport and Highways.

The university will be established through an Act of Parliament and the Bill in this regard will be introduced in the next session of the Lok Sabha. It is proposed to set up the Central university in Chennai with campuses in Kolkata, Mumbai and Visakhapatnam. The Minister made this announcement while addressing the Parliamentary Consultative Committee meeting attached to Ministry of Shipping, Road Transport and Highways at Kumarakom near Kottayam on Saturday.

Traffic target reached

Referring to the shipping sector, Mr Baalu said that India's share in international trade in the last few years. This is reflected in the cargo cleared by the major ports in the country. The projected traffic for the 12 major ports for the current year, as per the Tenth Plan document, was 415 million tonnes and for the non-major ports, 150 million tonnes. But the major ports, he said, had already handled 423 million tonnes and the non-major ports reached their target during 2005-06.

The aggregate capacity planned for the major ports at the end of the Tenth Plan period was 470.60 million tonnes per annum, he said. According to the Minister, this milestone has been achieved and the major ports have an aggregate capacity of about 484 million tonnes per annum. But the ports would have to gear up to meet the estimated capacity requirement of 1.5 billion tonnes by 2011-12.

Charting Business Plans

The Minister also pointed out that the major ports were preparing their long-term business plans, which would include an Action Plan for the next seven years. Plans for developing the International Container Transhipment Terminal at Cochin Port on BOT basis are apace. Coming up at Kandla is a terminal for which the Port Trust has signed a BOT agreement.

The Chennai Port Trust has issued a Letter of Intent to the private operator selected for the development of a second container terminal. A concession agreement in this regard is to be signed shortly. Likewise, the bidding process for the development on BOT basis of two offshore container berths at the Mumbai Port has been completed and the operator will be selected soon. The bidding process for the construction of a second container berth at the Tuticorin Port on BOT basis will begin in a few weeks.

Road connectivity

Regarding road connectivity to ports, the Minister said that 10 projects were under implementation. The project connecting Kandla Port to the National Highway is complete. Further, an ambitious Rs 2.27-lakh-crore plan for upgradation of National Highways in a phased manner is being formulated.