Govt prepares Cabinet note for ship building policy

Also cancels Rs 35,000 cr road projects to rebid in EPC mode

To promote shipping industry, the government plans to come out with a ship building scheme to encourage India ship yards to bag foreign ship building orders.

A Cabinet note with this regards has been prepared, minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari said in his conference on 100 days of his ministry.

"The states of Gujarat, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu have potential for this kind of industry. We want to facilitate ship breaking and building in our country," he said.

Besides, Cochin Shipyard will invest Rs 1,200 crore in the construction of a dry dock where LNG carrier ships will be made. Also, other shipyards will make two more LNG ships, costing Rs 1,500 crore each, Gadkari said. Cochin Shipyard will partner with a French company for building these vessels.

The proposed ferry service between India and Myanmar will commence next month for cargo and passenger movement between the two countries. It will connect the two countries through Chennai and Yangon (Myanmar).

State-run Shipping Corporation of India is likely to deploy a 1,200 TEU (twenty feet equivalent unit) vessel, which will connect the ports of Colombo, Chennai, Krishnapatnam and Yangon.

A plan start a RORO service for transportation of vehicles from factories, which will help in saving fuel used for the transportation of the goods through roads. Roll-on/roll-off (RORO) ships are vessels designed to carry wheeled cargo, such as automobiles, trucks that are driven on and off the ship on their own wheels or using a platform vehicle.

On the roads sector, the minister said about 35 roads projects, which were stuck, worth Rs 38,500 crore have been cancelled and will be rebid in the EPC mode soon.

In the current fiscal, 8,500 km of highway projects will be awarded, out of which 1860 km have already been awarded. The roads ministry is targeting 6300 km of construction this fiscal, out of which 1000 km have been constructed and 350 km strengthened so far.

On the new land acquisition bill, Gadkari said if required the government will only increase compensation for farmers after acquiring land and there is no question of reducing the compensation for them. The government will try to bring in the new revised Bill in the upcoming Winter session of the Parliament.