The Sagarmala programme is the flagship programme of the Ministry of Shipping to promote port-led development in the country through harnessing India’s 7,500 km long coastline, 14,500 km of potentially navigable waterways and strategic location on key international maritime trade routes. The main vision of the Sagarmala Programme is to reduce logistics cost for EXIM and domestic trade with minimal infrastructure investment.

Sagarmala Programme was approved by the Union Cabinet in March 2015 and a National Perspective Plan was prepared by the Ministry of Shipping which was released on 14th April 2016. As of now, 500 projects have been identified at an estimated infrastructure investment of ₹ 3.55 Lac Crore across all the pillars. Out of these, 143 projects (worth ₹ 0.88 Lac Crore) have been completed, and 190 projects (worth ₹ 2.12 Lac Crore) are already under implementation. Remaining set of 167 projects are under various stages of development and expected completion are well within 2035.

 Implementation of these projects are being done by the Central Line Ministries, State Governments / Maritime Boards and SPVs preferably through the private sector and through the Public Private Participation (PPP) wherever feasible. Project theme-wise summary of projects under Sagarmala is given in the Table below:

Summary of projects under Sagarmala

Ministry of Shipping has taken numerous initiatives for unlocking potential of waterways which is enclosed at Annex-I

Annex-I

Initiatives under Sagarmala Programme to unlock the potential of Waterways

a. Ministry of Shipping has notified licensing relaxation to foreign flag vessels for carrying transshipment containers, empty containers, fertilizers and agricultural, fisheries, animal husbandry and horticultural commodities on coastal routes.

b. The licensing Relaxation for coastal shipping to special vessels such as Ro-Ro, Hybrid Ro-Ro, Ro Pure Car Carriers, Pure Car and Truck Carriers, LNG Vessels and Over-dimensional or Project Cargo is extended till 2021.

c. Under coastal berth scheme, financial assistance up-to 50% of total project cost or maximum funding limit can be provided to the implementing agency for creation of infrastructure to promote movement of cargo/passengers by sea/National Waterways.

d. A study has been conducted in association with Asian Development Bank to prepare a perspective plan for coastal shipping  and an action plan has been formulated under the topics of policy interventions, infrastructure interventions and process interventions is being implemented by the Ministry of Shipping.

e. Minimum 40% discount is offered by major ports on vessel and cargo related charges to coastal vessels.

f. To promote inland water transport (IWT) in the country, 111 (including 5 existing and 106 new) National Waterways (NWs) have been declared under the National Waterways Act, 2016.

g. NW-I (Ganga-Bhagirathi- Hooghly river system from Allahabad to Haldia) in Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand & West Bengal; NW-2 (River Brahmaputra from Dhubri to Sadiya) in Assam; NW-3( West Coast Canal from Kottapuram to Kollam along with Udyogmandal and Champakara Canals) in Kerala, have already been developed with fairway navigational aids, jetties and terminals with mechanised equipment handling facilities for loading of cargo. These water ways are operational and vessels are plying on them. In addition, NW-10 (river Amba), NW-68(river Mandovi), NW-73 (river Narmada), NW-83(Rajpuri Creek), NW-85 (Revadanda Creek- Kundalikariver system), NW-91 (Shastri river- Jaigad creek system), NW-97 (Sunderbans Waterways), NW-100 (river Tapti) and NW-111(river Zuari) are operational.

h. Feasibilities studies have been completed by the Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI) for 106 new NWs and based on the outcome of feasibility studies and Detailed Project Reports (DPRs), 20 new NWs were found feasible for development of shipping and navigation in addition to 5 existing NWs, on which development activities are already ongoing.

i. To augment the navigational capacity on the Haldia-Varanasi stretch on NW-1(river Ganga), the Ministry of Shipping / IWAI is implementing the Jal Marg Vikas Project (JMVP) at an estimated cost of ₹ 5369.18 crore. Under JMVP construction of multimodal terminals at Varanasi, Sahibganj&Haldia, Ro-Ro terminals, fairway development navigational lock at Farakka, channel marking systems etc., are being set up.

j. Fairway development work in Vijayawada-Muktyala stretch of river Krishna in Andhra Pradesh (part of NW-4) has been completed. Fabrication of four floating pontoons and land acquisition for fixed terminals(4 nos.) at Ibrahimpatnam, Harischandrapuram, Muktyala and Madipadu is underway.

This information was given by Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Shipping Shri Mansukh Mandaviya in a written reply to the Loksabha today. 

YB/AP

*****