Ministry of Shipping: Year-end Review-2016

Ministry of Shipping: Ports & Shipping Achievements Report

Question: What is the total length of the Indian coastal line
(a) 7517 Km
(b) 7075 Km
(c) 6075 Km
(d) 6010 Km
Ans 🙁 a)
Related facts:

  • On 22 December, 2016; Ministry of Shipping released its Year-end Review for 2016.
  • Following are the main highlights:
  • The Ports play an important role in the trade of the country. In fact they are the Gateways for the EXIM Trade.
  • Over all the ports in the Country handle 90% by volume and 70% by value of India’s external trade.
  • India’s has a coastline of 7,517 kms with potentially navigable waterways of 14,500 kms. 12 major and 200 non major ports are dotted along the coast.
  • The cargo handled by major ports went up by 6.27% in FY 2016-17 (Apr-Oct) to 370.04 million tonnes (MT) compared to 348.21 MT during the same period previous year.
  • 56 New Projects worth INR 25000 crores have been awarded during the last two years, which will create an additional port capacity of 317 million tonnes per annum.
  • Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) of up to 100 per cent allowed under the automatic route for port and harbour construction and maintenance projects.
  • Ship building and ship repair policy approved in December 2015 provides a boost to the shipbuilding and ship repair industry.
  • National Waterways (NWs) Act 2016 to promote inland waterways for trade came into effect on April 12, 2016.
    It has declared 106 new waterways as NWs.
  • The new Berthing Policy that came into effect on August 20, 2016.
  • It aims to reduce berthing time and overall turn-around time of ships, standardize anchorage charges etc. across major ports.
  • Award of Waterfront and Associated Land policy was approved on July 27, 2016.
  • The Cabinet approved the ‘The Merchant Shipping Bill, 2016’ in November 2016.
  • The Cabinet also approved ‘The Major Ports Bill, 2016 in December 2016 that advocates for greater autonomy to port boards.
  • Total FDI equity inflows in Sea Transport and Ports sector was USD 1.07 billion during the two years from April 2014 to September 2016.
  • Infrastructure status for shipyards was granted in May, 2016. This will enable Indian shipyards to avail cheaper long-term financing for Indian shipbuilding and ship repair industry.
  • The ambitious Sagarmala project envisages a port-led economy through infrastructure development in ports and integration of ports with Special Economic Zones, Port based Smart Cities, Industrial Parks, Warehouses, Logistics Parks and Transport Corridors.
  • A total of 173 projects identified under the National Perspective Plan (NPP) for the Sagarmala Programme, at an estimated investment of INR 4 lakh crore, has been initiated during FY 2016-176 new mega ports have been identified to add 400 MTPA of cargo handling capacity.
  • These are namely Vadhavan (Maharashtra), Enayam (Tamil Nadu), Cuddalore/ Shikazhi (Tamil Nadu), Machllipatnam /Vodarevu (Andhra Pradesh), Paradip South Satellite Port (Odisha), Sagar (West Bengal).
  • Saurashtra (Gujarat) and Chennai (Tamil Nadu) have been identified for setting up Maritime Clusters.
  • Andaman and Nicobar have been identified for setting up of a marine tourism and maintenance, repair and operation (MRO) cluster.
  • A direct container service was launched between Myanmar and India at Chennai Port in October 2014.
  • Maritime India Summit 2016 was held on 14-16 April, 2016.
  • It played a key role in highlighting the role of port led development for faster and sustainable economic growth.
  • The summit provided a platform for participation, engagement and interaction from 42 countries.
  • As part of Sagarmala, more than 400 projects, at an estimated infrastructure investment of more than Rs. 7 lack crore, have been identified across the areas of port modernization & new port development, port connectivity enhancement, port-linked industrialization and coastal community development.
  • The Sagarmala Development Company (SDC) was incorporated on 31stAugust 2016.

Reference:
http://pib.nic.in/newsite/PrintRelease.aspx?relid=155754
http://pibphoto.nic.in/documents/rlink/2016/dec/p2016122201.pdf