Coastal Shipping traffic constantly increased in India in last three years: Sarbananda Sonowal

NEW DELHI: Under Sagarmala Programme, various initiatives and projects have been undertaken to facilitate the shifting of cargo from c o n v e n t i o n a l l a n d - b a s e d transportation to Coastal Shipping mode, said the Union Minister for Ports, Shipping, and Waterways Sarbananda Sonowal.

As a result, there is a constant increase in coastal shipping traffic in the last three years.

Coastal Cargo

2020-21 – 114 (MMTPA)

2021-22 – 133 (MMTPA)

2022-23 – 151 (MMTPA)

To enhance freight movement through coastal shipping, the Government of India (GOI) has taken measures like the Coastal Berth Scheme, license relaxation under section 407 of the Merchant Shipping Act, discounts offered by major ports, priority berthing policy for coastal vessels, reduction of GST on bunker fuels, green channel clearance, reimbursement of freight subsidy on primary movement of subsidized urea and P&K fertilizers, etc.

Sagarmala Programme

An initiative by the Government of India, the programme aims to enhance the performance of the logistics sector of the country. It envisages opening the potential of the coastline and waterways to investments

The vision of the programme is to bring down logistics costs for both domestic and Export Import cargo with optimized infrastr ucture investment.

Sagarmala aims to lower logistics costs for Export Import and domestic cargo leading to overall cost savings of Rs 35,000 to Rs 40,000 crore/year. In addition, Sagarmala aspires to lower carbon emissions from the t r a n s p o r t a t i o n s e c t o r b y 12.5 MT/annum.

In India, it is the flagship programme of the Ministry of Ports, S h i p p i n g a n d Wa t e r w a y s t o encourage port-led development by using the country’s 7,517 km long coastline.