Comments
Now India’s maritime sector need not go to foreign experts to look for solutions to solve various problems. The National Technology Centre for Ports, Waterways and Coasts (NTCPWC) at IIT Madras provides them using technology.
On Monday, the Union minister for Ports, Shipping and Waterways Sarbananda Sonowal inaugurated the centre located at IIT Madras’s ‘Discovery campus’, a satellite campus at Thaiyur, 35 km south of Chennai.
The centre was developed under an MoU signed by the Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways, and the IIT Madras on February 26, 2018 to solve problems faced by the maritime sector through scientific support.
The right direction
Built under the Sagarmala Programme, the NTCPWC was established at a cost of ₹77 crore and will work on ten projects for the first three years. These include a customisable 3D numerical hydrodynamics and siltation tool and the development of Autonomous Surface Vehicles for mapping marine environments and water quality.
To date, over 100 projects/products worth ₹200 crore have been developed and operationlised at major ports, waterways, atomic energy, and state maritime boards. These have provided benefits and cost savings of around ₹1,500 crore. “This is a step in the right direction of the Make in India,” the minister said.
Spread over four acres, the centre has a Ship Manoeuvring Basin that provides 2D and 3D Modelling of Ocean, Coastal & Estuarine Flows Navigation and Manoeuvring. The centre must aim to gain recognition and tie up with reputed international stakeholders, including universities, the minister said.
Sagarmala Programme
Various initiatives under the Centre’s Sagarmala programme in the last seven years have helped India to achieve the $440 billion of goods merchandise export projected in 2022-23. The initiatives include increasing capacity at port by infrastructure modernisation and improving port connectivity that helped in lowering operational costs of ports and reduced turnaround time of ships, he said.
Currently, there are 802 projects worth investment of ₹5.4 lakh crore for implementation under the Sagarmala Programme by 2035. Out of these, 228 projects worth ₹1,21,545 crore have been completed and 260 projects worth ₹2.36 lakh crore are under implementation. Further, 314 projects worth ₹2.11 Lakh crore are under various stages of development. Further, under holistic development of coastal districts, a total of 567 projects with an estimated cost of around ₹58,000 crore have been identified, he said.
Comments
COMMENT NOW
Comments
Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.
We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of TheHindu Businessline and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.