Under Sagarmala Programme, various initiatives and projects have been undertaken to facilitate the shifting of cargo from conventional land-based transportation to coastal shipping mode, said the Union Minister for Ports, Shipping, and Waterways Sarbananda Sonowal in a written reply to the Lok Sabha on Friday.
As a result, there is a constant increase in coastal shipping traffic in the last three years.
Coastal Cargo
2020-21 – 114 (MMTPA)
2021-22 – 133 (MMTPA)
2022-23 – 151 (MMTPA)
To enhance freight movement through coastal shipping, the Government of India (GOI) has taken measures like the Coastal Berth Scheme, license relaxation under section 407 of the Merchant Shipping Act, discounts offered by major ports, priority berthing policy for coastal vessels, reduction of GST on bunker fuels, green channel clearance, reimbursement of freight subsidy on primary movement of subsidized urea and P&K fertilizers, etc.
Sagarmala Programme
An initiative by the Government of India, the programme aims to enhance the performance of the logistics sector of the country. It envisages opening the potential of the coastline and waterways to minimize infrastructural investments.
The vision of the programme is to bring down logistics costs for both domestic and EXIM cargo with optimized infrastructure investment.
Sagarmala aims to lower logistics costs for EXIM and domestic cargo leading to overall cost savings of Rs 35,000 to Rs 40,000 crore/year. In addition, Sagarmala aspires to lower carbon emissions from the transportation sector by 12.5 MT/annum.
In India, it is the flagship programme of the Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways to encourage port-led development by using the country’s 7,517 km long coastline.
