Integrated transport and multimodal connectivity through projects such as Sagarmala, Bharatmala, and Dedicated Freight Corridors (DFCs) will significantly improve India’s logistical competitiveness, Sarbananda Sonowal, Minister for Ports, Shipping & Waterways has said.

Regulatory and administrative innovations such as e-paperless GST and e-way bill will help reduce logistics cost further, the Minister said at the Multi-modal Transportation Summit organised by CII in partnership with Inland Waterways Authority of India, according to a statement issued by CII.

Gati Shakti plan

The recently launched Gati Shakti Master Plan, would revolutionise the next generation of multimodal infrastructure development, improve the competitiveness and reduce India’s logistics cost, he said. Gati Shakti initiative aims to bring the logistic cost down from 13 per cent to 7-8 per cent.

Increased efficiency in supply chain and logistics will help achieve the target of $5 trillion economy by 2025, he added.

Also read: CCEA approves PM GatiShakti National Master Plan for multimodal connectivity

Sonowal pointed out that inland vessels bill 2021 had been passed by the Lok Sabha, which declares 111 waterways spread over 24 States as national waterways. A dedicated coastal berth at JNPT under Sagarmala is ready for operation which can handle about 2.5 million tonnes of coastal cargo. The berth will facilitate a smooth coastal movement of cargo through a green channel.

Government is also proactively encouraging private sector participation in development and operation of port infrastructure, the minister said. “Investment in ports touched a high of $ 2.35 billion by 2020. A dispute redressal portal has also been launched in 2020 to build the confidence of investors,” the statement said

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