Paradip Port Trust (PPT) Chairman MT Krishna Babu has said that the Sagarmala project would be instrumental in initiating a thrust in the growth of the port sector in Odisha as the project would play an important role in the functioning of the ports and economic activities in the region.
He pointed out that this project is the brainchild of the Government of India in the ‘Make in India’ idea of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Krishna Babu was presiding over a meeting on the Sagarmala Project initiative organised by the Union Ministry of Shipping, the State Government and the PPT here on Tuesday. The meeting aimed to bring all the stakeholders to a single platform to assess the potentiality and prepare a roadmap for the Sagarmala Project.
The meeting was meant for transforming the existing ports into modern world-class ports and for developing new ports. It was a strategic customer oriented initiative of Government of India to evolve a model of port-led developments. The focus was to bring all the stakeholders like officials of the Government of Odisha, the Government of India, infrastructure agencies like the NHAI, Railways, non-major ports, EXIM industries, associations and organisations connected in the maritime activities in a forum of deliberation on identification of projects to be taken up under the Sagarmala Project in Odisha and also to provide input for preparation of National Perspective Plans.
Ministry of Shipping Additional Secretary Dr Alok Shrivastav explained the objective of Sagarmala Project, saying it aims to improve operational efficiency of the ports with cost-effective multimodal logistic solutions and developing port-based industrial activities to improve standard of living of the people in the region.
Odisha Chief Secretary Gokul Chandra Pati, addressing the meeting, complimented the organisers for launching the interesting ideas and said that ports must be treated as integral part of logistic chain. Weakest link of the chain hampers the output of the entire system. It is a timely initiative to be appreciated. “We must wholeheartedly welcome the effort and take steps for a synchronised improvement in all the links in the logistics chain,” he said.
“In Odisha, the transportation sector has major bottlenecks. Paradip has to make it efficient to cater to the requirement. The Paradip Port has an excellent bright future. We must see the project holistically and organically implemented,” he added. Among others, Odisha Development Commissioner UN Behera, Ministry of Shipping Joint Secretary RK Agarwal and Odisha Principal Secretary of Energy SC Mohapatra and Secretary of Commerce and Transport Sanjay Rastogi also spoke on the occasion.