NEW DELHI, Aug 13: The Government under the Sagarmala Programme has formulated a Master Plan for the development of 12 major ports of the country.
According to official information, this aims at promoting the port-led development and in this regard 142 port capacity expansion projects worth Rs 91,434-crore and capacity creation of 884 MMTPA have been identified in this Master Plan for implementation over the next 20 years.
Out of these, 58 projects with a cost of around Rs 28,767-crore have been approved.
Notably, in 2015, an international benchmarking consultant conducted a study of the major ports which recommended 116 initiatives to enhance their efficiency and productivity to international benchmarks and unlock their capacity.
Out of the 116 initiatives, 85 have already been implemented, officials said.
To strengthen the shipping and ports sector and make it internationally competitive, the Government has taken various steps including exemption of Customs and Excise Duty leviable on bunker fuels used in Indian flag vessels for transportation of mix of EXIM, domestic and empty containers between two or more ports in India, abatement of service tax of 70 percent for transportation of goods by coastal shipping and Inland Waterways transportation.
Other initiatives were in April 13, 2016, the Finance Ministry notified inclusion of stand-alone shipyards undertaking activities such as shipbuilding and ship-repair in the harmonised list of infrastructure sectors, to promote manufacture of sea-going vessels by Indian shipyards, Shipbuilding Financial Assistance Policy was approved for contracts signed during a ten year period from 2016-2026.
Moreover, the Customs and Central Excise duty exemption on inputs used in manufacture of ships to provide a level playing field between indigenously built ships vis-a-vis imported ships and shipping enterprises based in India have been permitted to acquire ships abroad and also flag them in the country of their convenience.
This policy initiative of “Indian Controlled Tonnage (ICT)” had facilitated Indian ship-owners to gain access to cheaper funds abroad and also save on costs of setting up subsidiaries abroad to acquire and maintain such tonnage. (UNI)
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