Baalu looks beyond Golden Quadrilateral

While taking charge of the ministries of shipping, road transport and highways, TR Baalu marked infrastructure development for faster economic growth as his top priority.

He said that any financially viable project, be it the Golden Quadrilateral or the Pradhan Mantri Bharat Jodo Pariyojana, would be compeleted on the basis of their merit.

He, however, did not say if the Congress-led government will change the name of some of the road development schemes such as the 10,000-km, Rs 40,000 crore Prime Minister's Bharat Jodo Pariyojana, popularly known as PM-BJP.

He said the task for highway development would be to attain standards beyond the Golden Quadrilateral project launched by the previous NDA government that connected the four metros of Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai and Kolkata with four and six lane highways.

"There is a quantum jump in economic and industrial growth in the country for which all our highways have to be upgraded to international level," he told reporters.

He said that the government would go ahead with the proposed opening of road between Uri in Kashmir and Muzaffarabad in PoK but was awaiting response from Islamabad on the issue.

He, however, said that the proposal would have to be cleared by the Ministry of Defence. In shipping, he said, the Sethusamudram Canal project would be taken up on a pro rata basis.

With the National Environment Engineering Research Institute (NEERI) submitting its report, the Tuticorin Port Trust would submit the application for environmental clearance to the Tamil Nadu Pollution Board by June 15.

He said that the Centre would ensure that all clearances are given as soon as possible. He added that the government would ensure that money is not a constraint for the project.

The project proposes linking the Palk Strait and the Gulf of Mannar on the east coast of India by creating a shipping canal through the island of Rameshwaram, which would provide a continuous navigable sea route around the Indian peninsula. Currently, ships have to sail around Sri lanka for crossing over from east to west coast or vice-versa.

On the issue tonnage tax, he said that even though it made good business sense but whether it would be introduced this year or not was uncertain.

"Any decision on this issue will have to wait till the ministry takes stock of the situation," he said.

Regarding the Sagarmala project for development of the maritime sector, the minister said that the salient features of the project would be considered by the government.

Baalu stressed on running ports as a company, but stopped short of saying they will be privatised.

"A decision on privatisation will be taken only after due consultation with our coalition allies and studying the merits of it," Baalu pointed out.

He, however, had no objections to giving out berths on lease to private parties. His other priorities include development of inland waterways and operational and financial efficiency of ports.