Coastal States Major Port Development During 12th Plan

Seven coastal states to get major port during 12th Plan

Dipak Kumar Dash TNN 

New Delhi: The government has offered to develop one major port each in seven coastal states during the 12th Five Year Plan. The estimated cost of investment is pegged between Rs 18,000 crore and Rs 20,000 crore from 2012 to 2017.

Shipping secretary K Mohandas said the ministry has sent letters to respective state governments. “The states have to play the role of a facilitator to ensure land for developing such facilities. The Centre needs to spend Rs 2,500 crore or more to develop each port,” he added. Sources said states are likely to show interest considering the economic growth push they would get due to the development of new major ports.

There are 13 major and 176 non-major ports in the country. Government records show that in the first quarter of this fiscal (April-June), there was an increase of 4.8% in cargo traffic to 193 million tonnes (MT) at major portscompared to 184 MT during the corresponding period last fiscal. Only three major ports — Chennai, Mumbai and Mormugao — registered negative growth.

The shipping ministry has chalked out an ambitious target of creating a port capacity of around 3,200 MT to handle the expected traffic of about 2, 500 MT by 2020. Ports play a vital role in the overall economic development of the country. About 90% by volume and 70% by value of the country’s international trade is carried through maritime transport.

Source: TOI 16082011