Sarbananda Sonowal chaired meeting of the Consultative Committee for MoPSW regarding ‘Coastal Shipping Policy’

NEW DELHI : The Meeting of the Parliamentary Consultative Committee of the Members of Parliament for the Ministry of Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways was held in New Delhi. Shri Sarbananda Sonowal, Union Minister, MoPSW chaired the meeting on the ‘Coastal Shipping Policy’. Minister of State for MoPSW Shri Shripad Y Naik along with Members of Parliament Shri Arvind Ganpat Sawant, Loksabha; Shri Hibi Eden, Lok Sabha, Shri Lalubhai Babubhai Patel, Lok Sabha and shri G K Vasan, Rajya Sabha attended the meeting.

During the meeting, Shri Sarbananda Sonowal informed that, ‘Cargo handling in National Waterways has grown by more than 1700% to 126.15 million metric tonnes (MMT) in 2022-23 from 6.83 MMT in 2013-14. The Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways has identified a total potential of 1300 MTPA cargo movement by coastal shipping by 2047’.

He remarked that, ‘MoPSW has introduced green channel clearance, First and last mile road and rail connectivity, Sectoral plans for Efficient Logistics (SPEL) under National logistics policy etc. for the promotion of coastal shipping.

‘Today, Government has taken various projects under the Sagarmala Programme for enhancement of Coastal Cargo handling capacity and facilitation of passenger movement along the coast. Five dedicated coastal berths have been developed, creating handling capacity of 6.34 MTPA.  Apart from this 10 projects of RoRo/RoPax Jetties, Passenger Jetties etc. worth Rs. 527 Cr crore have also been completed’, said Shri Sonowal.

The targets set under Amrit Kaal Vision has identified a total potential of 1300 MTPA cargo movement by coastal shipping by 2047.

Coastal Shipping: Cargo Transport

➢ In the year 2014-15, Indian ports handled about 74.97 million Tonnes per Annum (MTPA) of coastal cargo -Increased to 151 MTPA (increased by 104%) in 2022-23.
➢ National Waterways handled 126.15 MMT cargo in 2022-23 while it was 6.83 MMT in 2013-14 (increased by 1700%)
➢ Commodity Wise Share- POL Products (32.3%), Thermal Coal (30.6%), Iron Ore (11%), Iron Pellets (7.6%), Cement/Clinker (1.5%) and Others (17.1%).

To facilitate the coastal vessels the MoPSW has also introduced priority berthing policy and Green channel clearance for faster evacuation of coastal cargo at ports. A discount of 40% is offered by major ports on vessel and cargo related charges to coastal cargo vessels. After looking at the potential the government has also reduced GST on bunker fuels used in Indian Flag Vessels from 18% to 5%.

Development of agglomeration centres, silo infrastructure, dedicated warehousing facilities and improvement in end-to-end logistics supply chain are also the focus areas of the ministry for promoting coastal sipping further.

Under the National Logistics Policy (NLP) Sectoral Plans for Efficient Logistics (SPEL) being prepared by line ministries (Food, Fertilizer, Steel, Coal, Cement, P&NG etc.) for promotion of sustainable modes of transport like Coastal Shipping and Inland Waterways. Even earmarking of minimum cargo -Public Sector Undertakings (PSU’s) like coal and fertilizers through Coastal Shipping has also been formalised.