With a view to raise financial resources for funding port-related railway projects, government today approved formation of a special purpose vehicle with an initial capital of Rs 500 crore.
The Union Cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, gave the go-ahead to the formation of the SPV, which would also help enhance handling capacity and efficiency of ports though an efficient rail evacuation system.
"The SPV would be funded by all the 12 Major Ports and the Rail Vikas Nigam (RVNL). Major Ports would contribute 90 per cent of the equity with RVNL contributing the rest," an official statement issued after the Cabinet meeting said.
The government would register the SPV as a company with an initial authorised capital of Rs 500 crore. The initial subscribed share capital would be Rs 100 crore.
"It is also proposed to raise resources from multilateral funding agencies and other financial institutions to finance port connectivity projects. The SPV would be manned by professionals with expertise on rail transport and port logistics," it said.
The SPV would undertake last mile connectivity to major ports, modernisation of evacuation infrastructure and raise financial resources for funding port-related railway projects.
The work of the SPV is expected to result in substantial reduction in dwell time of cargo at Ports and bring down the overall logistic cost for trade, it added.
Major ports have identified a shelf of around 40 projects which includes the last mile connectivity projects and internal port rail projects which would require an estimated investment of Rs 2,372 crore.
The SPV would work in close co-ordination with the Indian Railways and leverage the existing participative model of the Indian Railways for enhancing last mile connectivity to Ports.
The SPV focusing on port connectivity will fit into the ambitious Sagarmala programme which aims at promoting port-led direct and indirect development and to provide infrastructure to evacuate goods from ports quickly and efficiently.
The SPV would be headquartered in Mumbai with a registered office in New Delhi.
