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National maritime development policy soon

HYDERABAD: The Centre will soon announce the national maritime development policy so that Rs.1 lakh crore could be invested in various ongoing projects of shipping infrastructure and ports, Union Minister for Shipping, Road Transport and Highways T.R. Baalu has said.

Talking to The Hindu on the sidelines of a function to inaugurate Seaway Group’s new corporate office building here on Sunday, Mr. Baalu said that Rs. 55,000 crore would be invested in expansion, modernisation and establishme nt of new ports, while the remaining Rs.45,000 crore would be spent to develop infrastructure to support the shipping activity. Acquisition of higher capacity cranes, container-handling equipment, and dredging infrastructure would form part of the implementation of the policy.

Stating that the policy would envisage PPP (public-private partnership) model, Mr. Baalu said the share of shipping was nearly 95 per cent of the total exim (export-import) business handled by major and minor ports in the country. Cargo handling business had shown a growth of 10.44 per cent in the first quarter compared to the corresponding quarter last year, with a spurt in automotive exports. “Chennai port alone has accounted for a good number of automotive exports,” he said.

As many as nine projects around Visakhapatnam Port were identified for infrastructure development. Many private companies evinced interest in developing port infrastructure in places like Krishnapatnam and Gangavaram, he said. Chairman and managing director of Seaways Shipping Ltd P.V.K. Mohan said the company would invest Rs. 250 crore this year as part of its expansion plans, including adding of two more vessels to its fleet and reaching out to new destinations in Middle East countries and South-East Asian ports.

Capt. Mohan said the company planned to cover the entire West Coast with the new fleet.

The company recorded a revenue of Rs. 600 crore in the last financial year, and the expansion would ramp it up to Rs. 1,000 crore by 2009-2010. He did not rule out the possibility of going public.

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