PM inaugurates Ro-Pax terminal at Hazira
Flags off Ro-Pax ferry service between Hazira and Ghogha in Gujarat
New Delhi: The Ministry of Shipping was today renamed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi as the Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways. Modi, who inaugurated the Ro-Pax terminal at Hazira and flagged off the Ro-Pax ferry service between Hazira and Ghogha in Gujarat through video conferencing, said in most of the developed countries the Ministry of Shipping handles Ports and Waterways. He added now with more clarity in name, there will be more clarity in the work.
He further said RO-PAX service between Hazira and Ghogha would shorten the journey between Saurashtra and South Gujarat from 10-12 hours to 3-4 hours and this will save time and expenses will also be reduced. He said about 80000 passenger trains and 30000 trucks will be able to take advantage of this new service in a year. He added fruits, vegetables and milk can now easily be transported and pollution will also be reduced due to this service. He wished the people for this new maritime connectivity established between Bhavnagar and Surat.
He added efforts were made to put maximum use of about 21000 km of waterway in the country, for the development of the country. He added that under the Sagarmala project, work was going on over 500 projects across the country. He further informed about the work is going on in inland rivers across the country, to connect many Land-locked states to the sea. He said that transportation by waterways was many times cheaper than road and railways and also caused less damage to the environment.
Pointing out that Gujarat last year accounted for more than 40 percent of the country’s total maritime trade, Modi said that while in the recent past India’s first Chemical Terminal was established in Dahej and India’s first LNG terminal was established as well, now India’s first CNG terminal would be installed at Bhavnagar Port. In addition facilities like Ro-Ro terminal at Bhavnagar port, Liquid cargo terminal and a new container terminal were being prepared, he said.
The Prime Minister said the government is making efforts to restart the ferry service between Ghogha-Dahej very soon. He said many natural challenges had arisen in this project and efforts were being made to remove them through modern technology.
The Prime Minister said facilities like today’s Ro-Pax Ferry service or Sea Plane inaugurated a few days ago, were giving a lot of momentum to water-resource based economy. He said that over the years, serious efforts have also been made to strengthen the Blue Economy in the country. He listed the ecosystems and many schemes made over the years to help the fishermen like financial aid to fishermen for modern trollers or navigation systems that provide accurate information of weather and sea routes. He assured that safety and prosperity of fishermen was the priority of the Government. He added recently launched Pradhan Mantri Matsya Sampada Yojana is also promoting fish related trade. Under this scheme, Rs 20 thousand crore would be spent for infrastructure related to fisheries in the coming years.
“Our focus should be to create an ecosystem where there can be seamless movement of cargo. The country is now making rapid strides in the direction of Multimodal Connectivity to reduce logistics costs and efforts have been made to improve connectivity between road, rail, air and shipping infrastructure and also to overcome the silos,” he said and referred to the Multimodal Logistics Parks being constructed in the country. He added that Multimodal connectivity was being developed with the neighbouring countries also. He wished that with these efforts the cost of Logistics in the country should come down and give impetus to our economy.
– globalbihari bureau
