Sagarmala project
Sagar Island
India Maritime Summit
Port and shipping sector to create nearly 40 lakh direct , 60 lakh indirect jobs: Nitin Gadkari
Gadkari said his ministry has drawn up projects with investment potential of Rs 1,20,000 crores, which will be showcased at the India Maritime Summit to be held in Mumbai from April 14 to 16.ET Bureau | March 20, 2016, 14:34 IST
NEW DELHI: Port and shipping sector has potential to create nearly 40 lakh direct jobs and 60 lakh indirect employment opportunities over the next 5 year, shipping and road transport minister Nitin Gadkari has said.
Gadkari said his ministry has drawn up projects with investment potential of Rs 1,20,000 crores, which will be showcased at the India Maritime Summit to be held in Mumbai from April 14 to 16.
These include 27 port based industrial clusters, promotion of coastal shipping and development of inland waterways as part of the Sagarmala Project.
"All the developed countries have a vibrant port sector, but unfortunately, our maritime sector remained neglected over the years, despite having immense potential," Gadkari said.
Gadkari said there was an urgent need to bring down the logistics costs to make our products as well exports competitive.
"Currently, logistics costs in India is about 18%, while it is 10-12% in Europe. Our focus is on bringing down the logistics cost from 18% to 12% by developing coastal shipping and inland waterways," he added.
Gadkari said new green field ports will be coming up at Vadhavan, near Dahanu in Maharashtra, Colachal near Kanyakumari in Tamil Nadu and Sagar Island in West Bengal, entailing an investment of Rs 20,157 crores.
He said port modernization programmes, hinterland connectivity and multi-modal logistics also offer huge investment opportunities. The shipping ministry has also identified two marine clusters at Saurashtra in Gujarat and Ennore, Tamilnadu for ship building, ship repair and recycling.
Similarly coastal steel clusters are planned at southern Maharashtra and northern Tamil Nadu. Gadkari said the development of 111 inland waterways also offers huge investment opportunities in the fields of dredging, fairway development and terminal construction.
Tags : Industry, Sagarmala project, Sagar Island, Nitin gadkari, Jobs, Job creation, India Maritime Summit