The Centre will speed up the ambitious Sagarmala project from 10 years to five years, said Nitin Gadkari, Minister of Road Transport, Highways and Shipping today.

“Following Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s intervention, it has been decided to finish Sagarmala project in five years instead of 10 years to create a massive 10 million jobs,” he said at the Maritime India Summit here.

Cost savings

A plan prepared under the Sagarmala programme by the Centre could lead to annual logistics cost savings of close to ₹35,000 crore and boost India’s merchandise exports to $110 billion by 2025.

Gadkari said that the plan, has been crafted after detailed consultations with key stakeholders in the Central and State governments, public sector companies as well as private players from shipping, ports, shipbuilding, power, cement and steel sectors. It takes forward Sagarmala’s vision of substantially reducing export-import and domestic trade costs with minimal investments.

Easing exim

“This plan is based on optimising multi-modal transport to reduce the cost of domestic cargo, minimising the time and cost of export-import cargo logistics, lowering costs for bulk industries by locating them closer to the coast and improving export competitiveness by locating manufacturing clusters near ports,” a statement said.

The plan had identified specific opportunities for transportation of commodities such as thermal coal, fertilisers, foodgrains, cement and steel by coastal shipping and inland waterways.

Sagarmala aims to deliver impact through over 150 projects and initiatives in the modernisation of existing ports and setting of six new ports to augment capacity. It will focus on port connectivity through heavy haul rail corridor, freight friendly expressways, and development of strategic inland waterways.

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