Inland Waterways takes a giant step with IWDC towards fulfilling Maritime India Vision 2047
The first meeting of Inland Waterways Development Council (IWDC) concluded on January 8, 2024 in Kolkata to strengthen the inland water transport system in the country. The Union Minister of Ports, Shipping and Waterways (MoPSW), Shri Sarbananda Sonowal chaired the meeting onboard vessel MV Ganga Queen showcasing the interesting possibilities waterways sector holds.
The Meeting witnessed participation from the Minister of State for Ports, Shipping and Waterways Shri Shantanu Thakur and the Ministers from six States, Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Assam, Nagaland and Manipur, Senior officials and dignitaries from 21 State Governments/Union Territories namely Assam, Nagaland, Tripura, Manipur, Mizoram, West Bengal, Odisha, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Karnataka, Goa, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Punjab, Madhya Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand and Puducherry. A total of 124 participants from Central Government, State Government and UT Governments attended the meeting. This massive participation truly depicted the spirit of IWDC which is envisaged to function as a dedicated institutional mechanism directed towards accelerating the holistic development of inland waterways and the associated IWT ecosystem for enhanced cargo, passenger movement and river cruise tourism by enabling active dialogue and deliberation between the States, Union Territories and the Center.
The agenda of the first IWDC meeting had sessions centered around fairway development, enhancing cargo and passenger transport in IWT, potential of river cruise tourism to boost economic activity, sustainability practices in terms of non-fossil fuel-based vessel operations among others.
One of the key highlights of the meeting was the launch of Harit Nauka- Guidelines for Green Transition of Inland Vessels and River Cruise Tourism Roadmap, 2047 by Shri Sonowal.
Paradip Port Breaks its own record for swiftest climb to 100 MMT Cargo Handling among Indian Major Ports
Paradip Port achieved yet another 100 Million Metric Tonnes (MMT) of cargo handling, in shortest time, in its history, showcasing the Port's unwavering commitment to excellence and efficiency in cargo handling. It has once again repeated the feat by crossing the 100 MMT mark, 7th year, in succession and achieved cargo throughput of 100.28 MMT on 18th December in the current fiscal. Notably, in FY 2022-23 the coveted mark of 100 MMT was achieved on January 9th 2023. Thus by, the record was achieved in 22 days in advance i.e. in 262 days in current fiscal against 284 days in last financial year, by exhibiting 9.64 % growth in total cargo throughput. Thus, this century is the fastest by PPA, in its history.
Cargo handling in National Waterways has grown by more than 1700% to 126.15 million metric tonnes (MMT) in 2022-23 from 6.83 MMT in 2013-14:
Shri Sarbananda Sonowal, Union Minister MoPSW The Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways has identified a total potential of 1300 MTPA cargo movement by coastal shipping by 2047 The combined project cost for the Grant-in-Aid projects under Sagarmala is approx. Rs 11,000 Cr. Among these, around Rs 3,450 Cr is for Coastal Berths, RoRo/RoPax Jetties, and Coastal and Cruise Tourism
The Meeting of the Parliamentary Consultative Committee of the Members of Parliament for the Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways was held in New Delhi last evening. Shri Sarbananda Sonowal, Union Minister, MoPSW chaired the meeting on the Coastal Shipping Policy. Minister of State for MoPSW Shri Shripad Y Naik along with Members of Parliament Shri Arvind Ganpat Sawant, Loksabha; Shri Hibi Eden, Lok Sabha, Shri Lalubhai Babubhai Patel, Lok Sabha and shri G K Vasan, Rajya Sabha attended the meeting.
During the meeting, Shri Sarbananda Sonowal informed that, 'Cargo handling in National Waterways has grown by more than 1700% to 126.15 million metric tonnes (MMT) in 2022-23 from 6.83 MMT in 2013-14. The Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways has identified a total potential of 1300 MTPA cargo movement by coastal shipping by 2047'.