Container turnaround time at Indian major ports has gone down to about 26.5 hoursfollowing investments in mechanisation, as against 45-odd hours in 2013-14, Union Minister for Ports, Shipping and Waterways, Sarbananda Sonowal, said on Friday.

With focus on port-led development, the Centre has brought in private players to take up development in the sector, the Minister said.

“If you look at the container turnaround time at Indian ports, it has improved to 26.5 hrs. We do not have container logjam either as it happens in some foreign countries. So I would say, as a service provider, we have done well,” he said speaking on a programme organised to mark seven years of the ‘Sagarmala’ programme.

Sonowal also launched the mobile application of Sagarmala.

Incidentally, India’s cargo traffic at India’s 12 major ports during April-March, 2020-21, decreased 4.6 per cent to 671.82 million tonnes (from 704.56 million tonnes in 2019-20) primarily due to the pandemic. However, numbers are expected to cross 700 million tonnes this fiscal with economic activity normalising, Ministry officials said.

Project Implementation

According to Sonowal, the Ministry has identified 802 projects worth ₹5.48 lakh crore under the Sagarmala programme. The projects are to be executed by 2035.

Of these, 194 projects worth ₹99,000 crore have already been implemented, of which 29 projects worth ₹45,000 crore have been implemented under the PPP (public private partnerhsip) model.

There are 218 projects, with an estimated investment of ₹2.12 lakh crore where construction is in progress and it is expected to be completed in another two years’ time.

And, some 390-odd projects, worth ₹2.37 lakh crore are under “development pipeline”.

The Sagarmala programme, launched in March 2015, includes projects such as modernisation of existing ports and terminals; setting up of RoRo and tourism jetties; enhancing port connectivity; improvement, enhancement and development of inland waterways, etc.

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