Sagarmala investment target raised by Rs 1 trillion to Rs 6.5 trillion, project pipeline doubled

07 May , 2022 By : monika singh

The Centre on Friday expanded the Sagarmala programme, a maritime equivalent to Golden Quadrilateral for highways, by adding 735 new projects worth a little over Rs 1 trillion. With this, a total of 1,537 projects worth Rs 6.5 trillion are to be developed under the programme, that aims at reducing logistics costs for both domestic and export-import cargo.

Of the new projects approved by an inter-ministerial committee, 567 projects entailing investments of Rs 58,700 crore are for coastal area development to bridge the gaps in infrastructure at the coastal areas. The remaining 168 projects worth Rs 41,300 crore are primarily for improving connectivity.

Talking to media after the meeting, the minister for ports shipping and waterways Sarbananda Sonowal said the decision to enhance the number was taken at the request of the states.

“The successful completion of seven years of national flagship Sagarmala programme has contributed significantly to the comprehensive development of the country’s maritime trade and boost in economic growth. Under the programme, the ministry has implemented various large scale projects. These projects range from port modernisation, connectivity, industrialisation, community development, coastal shipping and inland waterways development,” he said.

A total of 202 projects worth Rs 99,281 crore have been completed till now and more than 200 projects worth Rs 2.12 trillion are under construction and expected to be completed within the next two years, he said.

The successful completion of the projects have helped the nation to achieve various milestones – increased efficiencies, capacity, employment generation, increased private participation, reduction of commuting time, reduction in logistics cost, increase in ease of doing business and placing India on the global map of leading maritime nations, Sonowal said.

The installed capacity of the ports has been augmented from 1,531 million tonnes per annum (MTPA) in 2014-15 to 2,555 MTPA in 2020-21. Traffic handling at major ports witnessed a rise of 6.94% in FY22 over the last year.

Overall average turn-around time has been reduced from 96 hours in 2014-15 to 52.8 hours in 2021-22; while container average turn-around time at major ports has also reduced from 35.21 hours in 2014-15 to 27.22 hours in 2021-22, he said.