The Shipping Minister said today that the ministry is taking all possible measures to encourage private sector investment in the shipping sector as major ports alone require over Rs 36,000 crore private investment by March 2012.
"Our ports could handle an estimated one billion tonne traffic by 2011-12...Rs 36,868 crore private investment is required for the major ports' capacity addition and the government has introduced greater transparency in bidding system," Shipping Minister GK Vasan said here today, while releasing 'India Maritime Report, Global Crisis-India Opportunity', by a private maritime research and consultancy firm i-Maritime here today.
The ports capacity including at the 12 state-owned major ports and over 200 minor ports could be over a billion tonne by the end of the 11th Plan, he said, adding the last fiscal saw the domestic ports handling about 733 million tonnes cargo out of which 530 million tonnes were handled by the 12-major ports.
Talking to the press later, he said the government is yet to take a view on shipping subsidy provided to shipbuilders and discussions are on.