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| Ministry upbeat on port expansion plan |
| Sharmistha Mukherjee / New Delhi Nov 15, 2009, 00:44 IST |
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Though there have been delays in awarding projects for development of ports under the National Maritime Development Programme (NMDP), shipping ministry officials are confident that all 276 projects under the programme will be taken up for implementation by 2011-12.
Under the NMDP, the 12 major ports in the country are expected to have enhanced their combined capacity to 650.90 million tonnes in 2009. However, delays have meant that the current capacity is only 574.77 million tonnes.
Rakesh Srivastav, joint secretary (ports), said, “To date, 50 per cent of the projects by number and 40 per cent of the projects in terms of investment have been taken up for implementation. There have been delays but the projects are being systematically monitored and the targets will be met by the end of the Plan period.”
To date, out of the 276 projects under the NMDP, 46 (Rs 5,003.78 crore) have been completed, work is in progress on 70 projects (Rs 16,240.92 crore), 15 projects (Rs 2,595.15 crore) have been approved but work on them is yet to be awarded, 33 projects (Rs 11,899.33 crore) are under the process for approval, 90 projects (Rs 23,191.20) are in the planning stage, while 22 projects (Rs 3,301.14 crore) have been dropped.
“We intend to take up all 276 projects by March 2012. Twenty-two projects have been dropped as they were not viable and ports are in the process of identifying new projects to replace these,” said Srivastav.
In the meantime, there has been an upward revision in the cost of completion of projects in the ports sector to Rs 62,231.52 crore over the initial estimate of Rs 55,803.73 crore.
Srivastav said, “The initial estimate was made when the programme was sanctioned in 2005. Revisions have been on account of current prices.”
Under the NMDP, public investments go primarily in common facilities, for example, for deepening and maintaining port channels, construction of breakwaters, circulation of cargo within ports, and rail and road connectivity from ports to the hinterland. Private investment to the tune of Rs 34,505.34 crore is being sought for construction, operation and maintenance of 76 berths and terminals.
A senior ministry official said, “Private participation for development of infrastructure at ports is good. In Cochin, for instance, Rs 20,000 crore is being invested for augmenting facilities.” Under the project, Rs 3,609 crore is being provided through budgetary support and Rs 13,771.54 crore through mobilisation of ports’ internal resources. Also, Rs 3,917.85 crore is projected to come from sources such as the railways ministry and the National Highways Authority of India for developing port connectivity projects.
The NMDP includes projects that are to be taken up for implementation, not necessarily for completion, up to March 2012. On completion, the projects are expected to add 410.50 million tonnes per annum capacity at the country’s major ports.
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