The government today said the capacity of ports in the country is likely to reach 1.2 billion tonnes over the next two years, with major expansion programmes already underway in the shipping sector.
"We plan to raise the ports capacity in the country to 1,200 million tonnes by March, 2012," Shipping Secretary K Mohandas said while addressing a meet on "Challenges and Vision for Shipping Sector in India", organised by the Standing Conference of Public Enterprises.
The capacity development programme is underway and the government has invited bids for 25 port projects worth Rs 25,000 crore to be built under a public-private partnership (PPP) model. Schemes worth Rs 6,500 crore are under implementation, Mohandas said.
India has 13 major ports, which are governed by the Centre, besides 200 other ports, including some governed by state governments and the private sector.
"Lots of investment is needed for enhancement of port capacity, including creation of additional berths, mechanisation and dredging," he said.
The government is implementing the National Maritime Development Programme (NMDP) at an investment of Rs 1 lakh crore, out of which Rs 55,804 crore is for ports, while the remaining sum will go for the shipping and inland waterways sector.
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The secretary said the government will provide a corporate structure to some major ports.
Earlier, addressing the meet, Shipping Corporation of India Chairman and Managing Director S Hajara said the shipping sector could propel the growth of the Indian economy, but unfortunately, India owns only 1.18 per cent of the world's fleet of vessels.
He stressed that there should be a level playing field for the Indian shipping industry and tax practises should be on par with other ship-owning nations.
SCOPE Chairman Arup Roy Choudhury said almost 90 per cent of world trade is carried out through the seas and there is a need to increase India's share in the world's total shipping tonnage.
Emphasising that shipping can propel the growth of the Indian economy, Scope Director General U D Choubey said the country lacked adequate skilled manpower and infrastructure.
"India, which is a growing economy today, must prioritise development of the shipping sector by way of shipbuilding and providing excellent training centres for development of skilled manpower," Choubey said.