India to raise port capacity three fold: Shipping Ministry

INDIA's Shipping Ministry is forecasting that cargo volumes handled at the nation's major ports will rise from 560 million tonnes annually to 1.2 million tonnes by 2019-20, while traffic at the smaller ports is predicted to increase from 290 million tonnes to 1.2 billion tonnes.

Shipping Minister Shri Wasan predicts that overall traffic at all Indian ports will register an annual growth rate of 11.3 per cent, reports London's International Freighting Weekly.

Speaking at the recent India Public Private Partnership Conclave in New Delhi, Mr Wasan told delegates that India's major ports registered capacity utilisation rates ranging between 90 and 100 per cent in 2010.

To maintain such high growth rates as those seen at present, the minister said India must upgrade and increase its port capacity three fold, the report said.

"Considering an objective of 70 per cent capacity utilisation, it is necessary to increase the overall capacity of Indian ports to 3.23 billion tonnes by 2020, which is more than three times the present level of 963 million tonnes," Mr Wasan was quoted as saying.

According to Mr Wasan, upgrading India's ports will require large scale investment and the introduction of newer technologies, which will not be possible without involving the private sector as active partners.

Terminals established through public-private partnerships (PPPs) are strongly encouraged in India and, among other incentives, the Shipping Ministry allows PPP projects to be 100 per cent exempt from income tax for 10 years, the report said.

It also noted that as a result, 24 PPPs costing INR64 billion (US$1.4 billion) have been completed.

"In the past 18 months, 19 new PPP projects have been given the green light. They include international container terminals at JNPT, a transhipment terminal at Vallarpadam and mega-container terminals at Chennai and Ennore," the report added.
(Source:www.schednet.com)