PPP will continue to be mode of port infra development

Public private partnership (PPP) will continue to be the preferred mode of development of port infrastructure during the 12th plan, said Union shipping minister, G K Vasan, at the curtain raiser event of India Maritime 2012 held here. "Private sector participation will play a major role in realising the planned capacity augmentation at the ports during the 12th plan with an expected share of about 70% and 98% in major ports and non-major ports respectively," he said.

While listing out the steps taken to make the shipping industry more competitive, Vasan said the ministry has initiated several facilitative measures such as bringing acquisition of all type of ships through import under the open general licence (OGL), opening up of 100% of FDI in the shipping sector, introduction of tonnage tax to bring down the tax liability of the shipping companies to a level comparable to the international levels.

To meet the projected traffic of more than 1,700 million metric tonnes during the 12th plan, both major ports and non-major ports have conceptualised various capacity augmentation schemes at an estimated investment of R1,80,000 crores. The estimated capacity by the end of 12th plan will be nearly 2,700 million metric tonnes. Shipping ministry has set an ambitious target of creating 244 million metric tonnes of capacity during 2012-2013 by sinking in a total investment of R14,500 crore into 42 projects, he said.

"Given the importance of public private participation in developing world class maritime infrastructure and need for showcasing the investment opportunities for private investors in the Indian maritime sector, the ministry of shipping and FICCI are jointly organising a mega event titled 'India Maritime-2012' on October 20, 2012, at Goa," he added.

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