According to Union Shipping minister G K Vasan, this scenario may change, with the Indian government intending to overhaul port capacity to 3200 million tonnes (mt), which would be achieved by deploying various measures at attracting investments to the tune of Rs 2,87,000 crore. With the Indian port sector expected to handle cargo traffic to the volume of 2500 mt by the end of the decade, the government is making all possible attempts to bring India’s sagging ports at par with its best competitors.
The minister was addressing the gathering at a recently held valedictory programme of the golden jubilee celebrations of the Paradip Port Trust at Paradip, Orissa. Mr Vasan informed that the Paradip Port Trust handled 56 mt of traffic during 2010-11, including 31.22 mt of import cargo and 24.81 mt of export cargo.
Boosting infra, technology
Major ports like Paradip Port Trust are undergoing major developmental programmes in order to address the requirement to fulfil the capacity expansion prevalent across the country. In this context, New Delhi based Karandeep Singh Chandok, proprietor of M/S Akal Logistics India, a well known logistics service provider, said, “Developing port infrastructure is not the only issue. The Shipping Ministry also needs to update and upgrade technology in the ports as well as technology know-how among handlers. It would not be of much help if latest technological infrastructure is deployed but people are not taught how to handle the same.”
India’s trade volume is touted to escalate manifold based on increasing trade activities in the days to come, boosting the need for creating and developing support infrastructure.
Priyanka Roy Chowdhury |
Indian ports, even the major ones, are known to fall drastically behind in comparison to their global counterparts when it comes to handling enormous load of cargo container traffic volume. This is chiefly due to lack of state-of-the-art port technology and infrastructure.
