Bill for Declaration of 101 Waterways as National Waterways to be Introduced in Parliament

Minister of Road Transport & Highways and Shipping Shri Nitin Gadkari said that a bill for declaration of 101 waterways as National Waterways would be introduced in the current Session of the Parliament. He was speaking at the meeting of Parliamentary Consultative Committee of the Ministry of Shipping here today. He also said that development of waterways found feasible for navigation would commence from 2016-17. He added that multimodal hubs, as proposed at Varanasi and Sahibganj, would give boost to industry, employment generation and GDP growth. He also said that there is a proposal to establish a multimodal grid with road and, wherever possible, rail and port connectivity with river terminals on the existing National Waterways and Barak river. Government has already approved the Jal Marg Vikas (NW-I) which is a component of this grid.

Shri Nitin Gadkari also highlighted the initiatives taken by his Ministry to promote coastal shipping. The major initiatives taken in this regard include green channel clearance, priority berthing, incentivizing modal shift of cargo such as fertilizers, food, grains, marbles, tiles, sugar, edible salt and over-dimensional cargo, containerized cargo and automobiles, scheme for developing dedicated coastal berths on the ports, 70% abatement on service tax; at par with road and rail, exemption from lighthouse dues, 40% rebate on Vessel and Cargo related charges, relaxed manning and technical standards and customs and central excise duty exemption on bunker fuel.

Presenting the profile of Vision 2020 for coastal shipping in India, the Minister said that development of cruise and coastal tourism would be brought into focus. The other features of the Vision include coastal shipping as part of end-to-end logistics chain, integration of inland waterways with coastal roads and development of regional centers of coastal cargo, he added.

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