Rs 100,000 crore investments in ports, shipping by 2025: Balu

Kochi, Dec 23 (UNI) India will mobilise investments of Rs 100,000 crore by 2025 in the ports and shipping sector through public-private partnership, Union Shipping Minister T R Balu said today.

Addressing a press meet here after presiding over the eighth meeting of the Maritime States Development Council (MSDC), he said investments worth Rs 60,000 crore will be mobilised by 2011-12 to meet the target of creating 1.5 billion tonne annual capacity in major and non-major ports by the end of the 11th Plan period.

Emphasising the role of public-private partnership to meet these goals, Mr Balu said while the government could invest upto 40 per cent, the balance would be mobilised from the private sector.

The Centre had already formulated 276 projects in the port sector and 11 in the shipping sector. Among the major projects for which the government had started spadework was a deep-sea port off West Bengal and a transhipment port at Great Nicobar Island. While an Expression of Interest had been invited to conduct a feasibility study for the West Bengal project, the government would initiate a similar study for the Great Nicobar Island.

The required investment for the former could be about Rs 7,000 crore, he said.

Earlier, while inaugurating the eighth ministerial-level meeting of the MSDC, attended by Ministers of six maritime states and the Goa Chief Minister, besides the chairmen of all major ports and other senior officials, Mr Balu said maritime states and UTs had drawn up ambitious plans to expand port capacities substantially.

By 2011-12, over 400 million tonne per annum capacity was likely to be added by Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Orissa, Goa, Kerala and Puducherry.

He said a Maritime University, with the main objective of fostering excellence in various fields connected with maritime studies, was proposed to be set up at Chennai with campuses at Kolkata, Mumbai and Visakhapatanam. The Union Cabinet had approved the proposal recently and the bill in this regard would be introduced in the coming Budget session of Parliament.

The government had also decided to declare two more stretches along rivers as National Waterways and the bills for the necessary legislation had been introduced in the Lok Sabha.

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