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Union Minister of State (I/C) for Port, Shipping and Waterways Shri Mansukh Mandaviya chaired the 18th meeting of the Maritime State Development Council (MSDC) today through a video conference organized by the Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways.
Objective
- The objective of the Maritime State Development Council (MSDC) is to develop a national plan for the development of the maritime sector beneficial for both states and the center and to adopt best practices for the sector.
The key items discussed during the meeting are Indian Port bill 2021, National Maritime Heritage Museum (NMHC), Rail and Road connectivity with Ports, Floating Jetties for Marine Operations and Sea Plane Operations, Sagarmala Projects and National Infrastructure Pipeline (NIP) projects.
Indian Port Bill 2021: A step towards accelerating India’s Port Development
- In FY 2020, the traffic handled at Indian ports is about 1.2 billion MT, which is expected to increase to 2.5 billion MT by 2030. On the other hand, only a few ports in India are having deeper draft which can handle capsize vessels.
- In addition, there are around 100 non-functional ports distributed across the coast of India.
- The ever-increasing size of ships mandates to have deeper draft ports and indeed mega ports need to be developed.
- Similarly, the non-functional ports also need to be prioritized and developed.
- A national-level integrated approach is required to augment the existing ports or to develop new ports in an efficient and sustainable manner which in turn will reduce the freight costs to a greater extent and improve the trade growth.
- The national-level integrated port planning is also highlighted in various reports including 'The World Bank's Port Reform book, UNCTAD's ‘Handbook for Planners in Developing Countries’ etc.
Source: PIB
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