India's new maritime plan, which will replace the National Maritime Development Programme (NMDP) that is due to expire in 2012, is likely to be ready in another month's time.
“We are working on a decadal action plan for the maritime sector, which should be ready in about a month. This will go beyond the NMDP that will expire in 2012,” shipping secretary K Mohandas said here today.
The existing NMDP only covers projects which have been under implementation as on April 01, 2005 or those likely to start by March 31, 2012.
Therefore, the ministry of shipping is in the process of drafting a new plan that would contain year-wise projects for the next decade, covering the 12th plan and the initial period of the 13th plan.
Although Mohandas was reluctant to divulge details of the proposed blueprint, he said that areas such as port capacity expansion, port connectivity and dredging would be part of the new plan.
But earlier this year, shipping minister GK Vasan had told parliament that a sub-group and four core working groups had been constituted to draft the plan.
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The core-groups would look at consolidating inputs received from various ministries, major ports and maritime states and assist in the drafting of the report.
The sub-group, simultaneously, would be responsible for reviewing the NMDP, identifying specific schemes/projects and other measures, compile and suggest the method of financing port development and provide projects, among other functions.
The resultant new plan is expected to include policy frame-work for stimulation of capacity expansion as well as growth of maritime sector. Supplementary projects for ports development from other infrastructure ministries such as National Highway Authority of India, Roads, Railways and Inland Waterways.
“We will be awarding 25 ports under PPP (public-private-partnership) this year, but our overall plan is much bigger, which will be detailed in the action plan,” Mohandas added.