SPM (Kolkata) Port Trust signed 42 MoUs, involving investment of Rs 30,000 cr in 2021

KOLKATA : Shyama Prasad Mookherjee Port Trust (Kolkata Port Trust) has made a pact of 42 MoUs during Maritime Investment Summit (MIS) 2021, with economic investment of around Rs 30,000 crore, A K Mehra, Deputy Chairman of the Port said .

The investments made in the areas of logistics, port led infrastructure, ship building and digital port framework underscore the logistics prowess of West Bengal, Mehra said at the Logistics Colloquium of the East India Summit organized digitally by CII.

At the session, Syed Yasser Haider Rizvi, Additional Managing Director, Summit Alliance Port Limited, Bangladesh, was much hopeful regarding utility of Meghna Basin in contributing towards local trade between the country.

Rizvi also highlighted upon improving navigability up to Karimganj and linking it with NW-16 from Bhanga to Lakhipur (121 kilometres) will provide better transit connectivity between Kolkata and the hinterlands of lower Assam, Tripura, Nagaland, Manipur and Mizoram.

Speaking at the conference, Debashis Dutta, Chairman, CII Logistics Subcommittee & President, Ripley & Co mentioned about several incentives in ports, mentioning specially about Major Port Authorities Bill, 2020 was passed by the Parliament of India.

The bill aims to decentralise decision-making and reinforce excellence in major port governance.

As per studies conducted under the Sagarmala Programme, cargo traffic at ports is expected to be approximately 2,500 MMTPA by 2025, while the current cargo handling capacity of ports is only 2,406 MMTPA,  Dutta said.

A roadmap has been prepared for increasing the Indian port capacity to 3,300+ MMTPA by 2025 to cater to the growing traffic. This includes port operational efficiency improvement, capacity expansion of existing ports and new port development.

There are 206 port modernisation projects worth Rs. 78,611 crore (US$ 10.71 billion).

Business Development Manager and Marine Technical Advisr, OMC International and Mr Mike Formoso, Managing Director, PSA India, shared their perspectives on adoption of international standards of logistics in Indian ecosystem.

Formoso urged CII to advocate for relaxations in regulations with both Port Trust and Electricity Departments for better operation of dependent segments in ports.

Speaking at the conference,  Shouvik Mandal, CEO, Apeejay Logistics, opined Bengal as a sleeping giant for logistics players in terms of warehousing.

He foresaw an infrastructure of 3 million sq ft with 300 cr worth investment in and around Kolkata within upcoming three years.

He urged investors to focus on Warehouses of Ballabhgarh, Haldia and Karimganj with State-of-Art Infrastructure, for realization of his vision of Bengal being a leader in logistics warehousing.