Ports modernisation blue print ready;Rs 90K cr expansion projs

By
Daily Excelsior
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Tragedy with our Govt is image vs reality, says Gadkari NEW DELHI, Mar 17: Asserting that decisions of the NDA government are made through a democratic process, Road, Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari today said one of the tragedies with the government is
Tragedy with our Govt is image vs reality, says Gadkari NEW DELHI, Mar 17: Asserting that decisions of the NDA government are made through a democratic process, Road, Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari today said one of the tragedies with the government is "image vs reality". "One of the tragedies with our party and the government is image versus reality and ground reality versus perception," Gadkari, who also holds the shipping portfolio, said when asked whether ministers get a chance to speak during Cabinet meetings. "We have very strong discussions in the Cabinet. Many times, we oppose views of even what the Prime Minister has and there is a democratic system and by that, we are taking decisions." He tried to fight off the perception in certain quarters that there is no democratic system and it is all personality-centric. "This is not the fact. We have qualitative discussions and everyone is free," he stressed while answering queries at the India Today Conclave here. Citing an example, the former BJP president added that even sometimes Power and Coal Minister Piyush Goyal criticises his policies and vice versa. "It is a very healthy atmosphere and we are working for the interest of the country. We are transparent, time-bound, result-oriented and the most important thing in our Cabinet is we are making policies and taking decisions. Not taking decision is not the policy of this government," he emphasised. Goyal, in a lighter vein, said Gadkari speaks the most during Cabinet meetings.

NEW DELHI: Union minister Nitin Gadkari has said a blueprint of 142 expansion projects has been finalised to modernise 12 major ports and develop new harbours at a cost of about Rs 90,000 crore.
These 12 ports under the administrative control of the Centre saw a growth of 3.24 per cent in cargo to 326.4 million tonne (MT) in the April-September period this fiscal as against 316.1 MT in the corresponding period last fiscal.
“A master plan for modernisation of the 12 ports besides development of new ports has been finalised. These ports are growth catalysts of modern India,” Shipping, Road, Transport, Highways and Water Resources, River Development & Ganga Rejuvenation Minister Nitin Gadkari said.
Gadkari said a total of 142 expansion projects worth more than Rs 90,000 crore have been identified for these ports and timely delivery of projects will give the much needed boost to the economy, besides shaping Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision of new India.
“Out of the 142 identified expansion projects, 57 projects are under implementation and one has been completed,” he said.
India has 12 major ports, namely Kandla, Mumbai, JNPT, Mormugao, New Mangalore, Cochin, Chennai, Ennore, V O Chidambaranar, Visakhapatnam, Paradip and Kolkata (including Haldia), which handle approximately 61 per cent of the country’s total cargo traffic.
The April-September figures of the cargo at 12 major ports show that the highest growth was registered by Cochin Port (19.62 per cent), followed by Kolkata (including Haldia), New Mangalore, Paradip with growth of about 12 per cent each .
According to the official data, Cochin Port growth was mainly due to increase in traffic of POL (petroleum, oil and lubricants) (27.8 per cent) and Containers (10.3 per cent).
In Kolkata Port, the data showed that the overall growth was positive i.E. 11.95 per cent.
During the period April to September 2017, Kandla Port handled the highest volume of traffic i.E. 53.29 MT (16.33 per cent share), followed by Paradip with 47.61 MT (14.59 per cent share), JNPT with 32.69 MT (10.02 per cent share), Mumbai with 31.23 MT (9.57 per cent share), and Visakhapatnam with 30.15 MT (9.24 per cent share). Together, these five ports handled around 60 per cent of Major Ports Traffic.
Commodity-wise percentage share of POL was maximum i.E. 34.01 per cent, followed by Container (20.22 per cent), Thermal & Steam Coal (12.66 per cent), other Cargo (12.17 per cent), Coking & Other Coal (7.6 per cent) and Iron Ore & Pellets (6.65 per cent). (AGENCIES)

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