With three-fourth of the non-major ports not operational in the country, the Shipping Ministry will conduct a detailed study to find out if those ports can be developed, and if so, how and for what purpose should they be developed.

“There are 204 non-major ports from which hardly 44 are functioning. Some States have the resources to develop them, while some do not have the resources….we will conduct a detailed study,” Mansukhlal Mandaviya, Minister of State for Shipping (Independent Charge), said here today after a meeting of the Maritime State Development Council.

The study will be completed in six months, said Mandaviya. Stating that this study will be “different than Sagarmala study,” Mandaviya added that the Ministry will consider making a national grid of ports so that cargo or agricultural produce located near the non-major ports can be shipped to major ports.

Coastal cargo

These cargo can then be shipped for export or moved through coastal cargo. The aim is to lower logistics costs and increase coastal shipping.

“We will share this study with the States so that they don’t have to conduct separate studies,” he added. They will be free to develop it themselves or through public-private partnership ports.

“States also run barges along the coastal route. All States will implement a set of common rules to ease movement of barges across the coastal route,” he added.

“We are also considering how deep sea vessels can be given to fishermen,” he said.

Security of ports was also discussed, with specific focus on how to implement international standard security in major and non-major ports. There are two layers of security – one is to scan containers that are handled and second is to track the ships that enter and exit the ports, Mandaviya said.

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