Shri Nitin Gadkari releases E-Books of Ministries of Road Transport & Highways and Shipping

The Union Minister of Road Transport, Highways & Shipping, Shri Nitin Gadkari, today released two E-Books on various developmental activities, fresh initiatives and major achievements of his ministries in the last six months of the Narendra Modi Government. The E-books were launched at a function in New Delhi to mark Good Governance Day on the 90^th birthday of former Prime Minister Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee.
 

Speaking on the occasion, the Minister said that the road transport and shipping are very important sectors for the development of the country. He said the challenge is to reduce the cost while enhancing the quality of road construction. Shri Gadkari said that the Government is giving priority to solving bottlenecks coming in the way of development of roads particularly land acquisition, and many such cases have been resolved. He said the target is to construct 30 kms of roads per day. He enumerated steps taken for construction of cement-concrete roads, development of toll plazas, electronic toll collection, road side amenities etc.

 
Shri Gadkari said that due priority needs to be given to development of inland waterways as it is much cheaper mode of transport. He also said that the Government will promote biofuels in public transport.
 
The Ministries of Road Transport, Highways & shipping have undertaken several comprehensive initiatives in different sectors as summarised below:
 
The initiatives in the Road Transport and Highways Sector include:
 
        Policy initiatives covering encouragement to investment in PPP projects, mode of delivery of projects, increased threshold for project approval, enhanced inter-ministerial coordination, fast track dispute resolution, amendments to the Model Concession Agreement, current focus on EPC, Project packaging, Electronic Toll Collection(ETC).


        Initiatives in Road Transport sector including New Road Transport and Safety Bill, According High priority to Road safety, constitution of National Road Safety & Management Board, New National Permit Policy for passenger Vehicles is being finalised, development of wayside amenities.
 
        Restructuring of the Cancelled Projects, Reviving of Stalled Projects, Integrating Border Check posts with Toll Plazas, Swachh Bharat Abhiyan and Road Side Amenities.
 
        Fostering regional connectivity amongst neighbouring countries.
 
        Focus on streamlining of office procedure like speedy redressal of public grievances, simplification of forms, digitisation of records and recording and weeding out of files.
 
        E-Governance initiatives covering e-tendering, Security of Women in Public Road Transport , Nirbhaya Fund Scheme, Integrated Vehicle Registration and driving licensing system, etc.
 
The initiatives in the Shipping Sector include:
 
        One time general trade license for Indian ships.
        Simplification of procedure to determine light dues for container ships
        E-payment of light dues from 1st April 2015
        e-payment of fees for all ship licensing services has been operationalised, with paperless transactions
        ERP system implemented in Cochin Shipyard and implementation of ERP to be complete in all major ports by December 2015
        Procedures for grant of permission for India-Bangladesh protocol vessels electronically enabled.
        Online examination and online counselling for common. Entrance test for maritime courses by Indian maritime university
        New scheme to part fund green initiatives of major ports
        Solar energy & wind energy to power lighthouses
        All major ports to prepare environmental management plan and endeavour to became green ports
The above E-books can be accessed at www.morth.nic.in/egovernance/index.html for Ministry of Road Transport Highways and www.shipping.nic.in/egovernance/index.html for Ministry of Shipping