The Hindu Business Line : `Modernise ports to sustain GDP growth'

Port pointers
95% of India's export-import trade takes place through ports.
Better rail, road connectivity stressed for better efficiency.
Infrastructure aimed at faster cargo clearance, better use of storage area.

Mr T.R. Baalu

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Kochi Feb. 12 The Union Shipping Minister, Mr T.R. Baalu, has stressed the need for a highly efficient logistic support in the shape of modern port infrastructure considering the GDP growth rate in the country.

The Shipping Ministry, he said, has conceived a very ambitious National Maritime Development Programme to build modern port infrastructure recognising the critical importance of development and expansion of port infrastructure.

Growth in exports

According to him, the country is growing rapidly and that prediction had put India outstripping the growth of China and Japan.

He pointed out that the Indian exports have grown at 35 per cent and imports 33 per cent in the first half of the current fiscal.

In order to sustain the level of growth, he said there is a need to set up better infrastructure facilities in the port sector.

Through ports

Citing that 95 per cent of India's export-import trade takes place through ports, the Minister said that well developed and modern rail and road connectivity is essential for the efficient functioning of ports, especially for fast clearance and evacuation of cargo and better use of port storage area.

The economy achieved through hassle-free transportation should make exports more competitive in the regional and international context, he added.

Vallarpadam

Referring to the ICTT project at Vallarpadam in Kochi, he said that the marine, road and rail infrastructure created for this project would also support a string of other related projects such as LNG import and bunkering terminal taken up by the Cochin Port Trust under the NMDP.

Recognising the crucial role played by the Cochin Port Trust in the economic development of Kerala and the neighbouring hinterland areas of peninsular India, he said that his Ministry has been taking special initiatives to support these projects and implement them on a war footing.

He also called upon the State Government to exclude the operation of bunker sales from the ambit of State sales tax.

He said he is looking forward to an early notification in this regard.

On the road sector, the Minister said that the road projects for the country in the near future include 11,130 km of four-lane areas.

There were proposals to build 20,000 km of 2-lane roads and 6,500 km of 6-lane roads.

Another 1,000 km of expressway also planned.

In the North East alone, he said there would be an investment of Rs7,500 crore in building 6,500 km of roads.

More Stories on : Shipping | Exports & Imports | Modernisation

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