The Ministry of Ports, Shipping & Waterways (PSW) is working diligently towards achievement of Maritime India Vision objectives. This has resulted the Ministry to clock growth & improvement across its verticals. The effort put in to modernise, mechanise as well as digitise processes led to positive transformation leading to better cost & time in international trade contributing towards Ease of Doing Business.
The major Indian ports under Ministry of Ports, Shipping & Waterways, Government of India registered an impressive growth rate in traffic movement at 6.94% during FY2021-22 over the previous fiscal year (Y-o-Y). The five major ports of the country recorded their highest ever traffic during the year.
The Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI), the statutory body in charge of the waterways in India under the Ministry, transported a total of 105 million tonnes of cargo through National Waterways, registering an impressive increase of 25.61% Y-o-Y basis.
The average turnaround time for container vessels at major ports has improved from 43.44 hours in 2014 to 26.58 hours in 2021.
Speaking on the occasion, the Union Minister of Ports, Shipping & Waterways, Sarbananda Sonowal, said, “Under the visionary leadership of Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modiji, the Ministry of Ports, Shipping & Waterways is working diligently towards achieving major objectives of Maritime India Vision, 2030. During the last fiscal, the ministry put forth unwavering effort with an aim towards the vision of transformation through transportation. This has not only helped us inch closer towards achievement of these objectives within the specified time but also improving the performance of our major verticals. This trickles down towards ease of doing business and overall growth in trade and economic growth of the country.”
Key Highlights of the Ministry of Ports, Shipping & Waterways during FY 2021-22:
Major Ports
o Kamarajar Port attained an increase of 49.63% traffic over the previous year
o The JNPT achieved highest ever traffic during the same period with an impressive growth of 17.27% over the previous year
o Deendayal Port also clocked an impressive growth rate of 8.11% during FY2021-22 which is its highest ever traffic
o Mumbai Port marked an increase in traffic of 17.27% and 11.46%, respectively.
o Cochin Port grew 9.68% on Y-o-Y basis which is its highest ever traffic achieved.
Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI)
· A new milestone was achieved in regional connectivity when Pandu Port in Guwahati received MV Lal Bahadur Shastri, the cargo vessel carrying 200 metric tonnes of foodgrain from Patna, by traversing 2,350 km through the Indo-Bangladesh Protocol (IBP) route.
· Another vessel MV Ram Prasad Bismil, with two barges - Kalpana Chawla and APJ Abdul Kalam – successfully completed their voyage from Haldia with a consignment of 1,800 steel products from Haldia sailing through the Indo-Bangladesh Protocol route to Pandu Port at Guwahati.
Cochin Shipyard Limited (CSL)
· Delivered 1 No. of Technology Demonstration Vessel, INS Anvesh, built for Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO)
Dredging Corporation of India