Port-led development can create huge jobs, says Nitin Gadkari

The port and shipping sector has potential to create nearly 40 lakh direct jobs and 60 lakh indirect employment opportunities over the next 5 years, Union Minister for Shipping, Road Transport and Highways, Nitin Gadkari, said on Friday.

“All the developed countries have a vibrant port sector, but unfortunately, our maritime sector remained neglected over the years, despite having immense potential,” Gadkari said at the curtain raiser press conference of the India Maritime Summit to be held in Mumbai from April 14-16.

Recalling Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s thrust on port-led development, Gadkari said his Ministry has drawn up projects with investment potential of Rs 1,20,000 crore, ($18 billion) which will be showcased at the summit.

These include 27 port-based industrial clusters, promotion of coastal shipping and development of inland waterways as part of the Sagarmala Project.

The Minister said there was an urgent need to bring down the logistics costs to make our products as well exports competitive. “Currently, logistics costs in India is about 18%, while it is 10-12% in Europe. Our focus is on bringing down the logistics cost from 18% to 12% by developing coastal shipping and inland waterways. Needless to mention that water transport is the cheapest mode of transport,” he added.

Giving details of major initiatives taken by the government, Gadkari said new green field ports will be coming up at Vadhavan, near Dahanu in Maharashtra, Colachal near Kanyakumari in Tamil Nadu and Sagar Island in West Bengal, entailing an investment of Rs 20,157 crore.  He said port modernisation programmes, hinterland connectivity and multi-modal logistics also offer huge investment opportunities.

The Shipping Ministry has also identified two marine clusters at Saurashtra in Gujarat and Ennore, Tamil Nadu for ship building, ship repair and recycling.  Similarly coastal steel clusters are planned at Southern Maharashtra and Northern Tamil Nadu.

Gadkari said the development of 111 inland waterways also offers huge investment opportunities in the fields of dredging, fairway development and terminal construction.