Admitting that high logistical cost prevailing in India was the biggest hindrance for Indian businesses on the global level, Union Shipping Minister Nitin Gadkari said here on Friday that his Ministry intends to reduce the cost under the Sagarmala Project.
In his opening remarks at the “Hinterland Connectivity and Multimodal logistics’ session held at the Maritime India Summit-2016, Gadkari said that integrated development of all modes of transportation is necessary for reducing logistics costs.
“The logistic cost in India, at present, is 18 per cent while the logistic cost 8 per cent in China. We aim to reduce the cost to 10 per cent under Sagarmala project,” Gadkari said.
Gadkari, who also holds the portfolios of Road Transport and Highways, expressed confidence that multi-pronged programme to improve hinterland connectivity could resolve the acute logistical problems faced by the transport sector.
The Minister said that there were proposals for investment to the tune of Rs4 lakh crore to improve rail and road connectivity for container movement. The surface transport Ministry had teamed up with the Railways to improve freight transportation.
Gadkari said that in its effort to reduce traffic congestion and facilitate smooth transportation of goods, the Government intended to move all the godowns from the cities to outskirts, along the 300 ring roads in all the cities.
“Traffic congestion is the major issue when it comes to transport of goods from godowns to the cities to railway yards or docks. We want to move these godowns close to ring roads for ease of transportation,” he said.
Gadkari said that the proposed SEZ near JNPT would attract an investment of Rs 4,000 crore and create around 1.5 lakh jobs.
Apart from this, massive investments to the tune of Rs 8 lakh crore would be made in various industrial clusters in the country, he said
“With the road construction speed of 20 km per day, which is for the first time in the history, I am confident to create a world class road network to facilitate seamless goods transport,” Gadkari said.
“With the launch of Sagarmala project, we have opened our cards. Global investors can now choose and pick from the sector they want to invest in,” the minister said.
Meanwhile, in an effort to become one of the top global maritime hubs, Union Minister of Shipping, Road Transport and Highwaysi Nitin Gadkari on Friday met about 100 high-level foreign delegates from Bangladesh, Maldives, Mauritius, Madagascar, and Sudan on the second day of the summit.
The summit is the flagship initiative of the Ministry of Shipping, Government of India with a view to unleash the potential of Indian Maritime Sector to the world. The summit showcased various thematic sessions based on the government’s ambitious ‘Sagarmala’ project for port-led development.
Gadkari briefed the delegates about various efforts undertaken by te Government to enhance bilateral economic cooperation in shipping, ports, railways, and trade & commerce.
“Maritime development is high on the priority list of our government as it has the potential of opening a new era of foreign investment in ship building, ship repair, ship breaking, inland water transportation, cruise shipping, and hinterland connectivity, to name a few,” Gadkari said, while addressing the delegates.