Sagarmala Apex Panel to meet Friday: Monetisation, new projects on agenda

Shipping Minister Sonowal, Nitin Gadkari, Piyush Goyal, and Ashwini Vaishnaw to attend top maritime meet

The central government will hold the National Sagarmala Apex Committee (NSAC) meeting on Friday to discuss various policy measures for development of ports and related infrastructure under the Sagarmala programme.
 
The apex committee, which was formed in 2015, will meet with Shipping Minister Sarbananda Sonowal, Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari, Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal, Railways Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw, Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia in attendance, among others.
 
"The committee shall review the Sagarmala program along with review of development of port linked Road and Rail connectivity project, development of Floating jetties and Inland waterways besides other agenda items," the ministry of ports, shipping and waterways said.
 
Sagarmala is the government's overarching project for maritime development, aimed at enhancing infrastructure and capacity in and around India's major ports. Currently, there are over 800 projects worth Rs 5.48 trillion in the pipeline. Sources in the ministry told Business Standard that close 700 new infrastructure projects have been identified, almost doubling the pipeline for the project. The programme was started in 2015 with just 175 projects.
 
So far, the ministry has completed projects worth Rs 99,281 crore since Sagarmala's inception with a target of Rs 2 trillion by FY24. A majority of these projects pertain to connectivity of railways and roadways to major ports, enhancement of cargo terminal infrastructure, capacity expansion, development of floating jetties, and development of the country's inland waterways network. The ministry estimates cargo handling through inland waterways to double to 200 million tonne (mt) by 2025.
 
Port projects also account for 2 per cent of the Centre's Rs 6 trillion national monetisation pipeline (NMP). Business Standard on Tuesday reported that the ministry missed its FY22 Monetisation targets by over 85 per cent, on account of delays in obtaining security clearance. Officials in the know say that the apex committee will also take up asset monetisation during the meeting, with the ministry tweaking its targets and adding more projects for this and the upcoming financial years.