Assets Of 9 Major Ports Being Considered For Monetisation: Minister

Union minister Shantanu Thakur today said that assets spread across nine major ports have been considered for monetisation between FY22-25 under the National Monetisation Programme, according to a FICCI (Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce) release.

The Minister of State for Ports, Shipping and Waterways while highlighting goals of the ministry added that PM (Prime Minister) Gati Shakti National Master Plan will lead to huge benefits for state governments. He also said that Kolkata, which hosts the country's oldest port, has a pivotal role to play in realising the goal..

Additionally, 11 industrial corridors and two defence industrial corridors are planned for development to improve the operational efficiency and capacity utilisation of existing port assets.

Addressing the PM Gati Shakti Multimodal Maritime Summit 2022 in Kolkata, he said the Ministry of Ports has the most critical role in Gati Shakti National Master Plan.

The PM Gati Shakti plan, a Rs 100 lakh-crore project for developing 'holistic infrastructure', was unveiled in the last budget by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman.

The plan aims at interconnectivity between road, rail, air, and waterways to reduce travel time and improve industrial productivity.

"The government is prioritising maritime development to enable ports to identify and resolve bottlenecks in enhancing multimodal connectivity," the minister said.

The government, under the guidance of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, is ensuring seamless movements of people and goods through railways, roads, ports, waterways, airports, and mass transport and logistics, he added.

Speaking on the occasion, Syama Prasad Mookerjee Port chairman PL Haranadh emphasised harnessing the potential of India's north-eastern states. He said that multimodal connectivity would be a win-win situation for both India and Bangladesh.