March 24, 2022
Pratima Mondal’s speech on the Demands for Grants for Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways
Sir, I rise to participate in the discussion on the Demands for Grants under the Ministry of Ports, Shipping and
Waterways for 2022-2023. India is strategically located on the world’s shipping route with a coastline of approximately 7,517 kms. Maritime transport handles around 70 per cent of India’s trading in terms of value. It has 12 major ports and 200 non-major ports. As compared with other ports across the world, the numbers are not
encouraging in India. Due to the lack of a deep seaport with 20 metres draft, mother vessels coming to India from anywhere in the world have to unload their cargo at transhipment ports like Colombo or Port of Singapore to load them into small ships and then send it to the Indian ports. This puts an extra burden of around Rs. 16,000 per TEU. Furthermore, all the ports are saturated and this leads to poor functioning. There has been a sharp indication that the design of existing ports is inadequate to meet the current requirement for quick turnaround and handling of increased volumes. This causes delay in the feeding and evacuation of cargo, and consequently lowering the efficiency and productivity of vessels. There are around 14 institutions providing naval architecture degree to
about 700 graduates per year in India whereas the country needs about 10 times more naval architecture and shipbuilding engineers per year. It is also predicted that there will be an eight per cent increase in demand every year. With many of the students leaving India, the shortage of skilled architects will affect the industry. Therefore, the intake capacity must be increased, and women must be promoted in the field. Instead of modernising the ports, the Government’s Rs. 8 lakh crore Sagar Mala Project is causing some irreversible damage. Environmental effects on the coasts with issues like coastal erosion as well as severe problems of degradation are being noticed. The Government is highlighting about the Sagar Mala Project, but its drawbacks should not be overlooked. Around 352 ports had been identified to be implemented as major ports. A target of 3,200 million tonnes of port capacity to handle 3,000 million tonnes of cargo was set to be reached by 2020. But in 2021, the total capacity stood at
2,562.85 MTPA. Furthermore, the development of road network, electricity, and overall infrastructural development is also the need of the hour. Port productivity and efficiency also depend upon the quality and reliability of road and rail connectivity and adequate storage and handling facilities. The lack of expressway connectivity between major ports as well as industrial clusters and high fuel cost make hinterland transportation inefficient and slow. Also, the
container freight stations and businesses need to be organized efficiently through good management practice in space utilization. India has domestic industries, which can produce some of the raw materials required in shipbuilding, especially when India has competitive steel manufacturing, light engineering, and IT industries, which can offer the required products at an economical cost. Thus, these should be boosted. Rather, the Minister must highlight the Government’s steps in this regard. In the 2020-2021 Budget, the hon. Finance Minister had announced that by 2024 the ship recycling capacity of the country would be doubled. The Minister had asked for a 60 per cent raise in this year’s Budget in order to fulfil the aim, but the raise is negligible. Rather, the worrying fact is that 48 per cent of Alang’s capacity remains unutilized. The main reason for it is non-compliance with environmental norms. Until and unless that is done, it will never get any ship from the entire Europe, and at this rate the target will never be reached. Rs. 100 crore was allocated towards ship building research. What has been the outcome of the project? There has been no mention about it since. Also, the allocation of Rs. 100 crore to Sagarmala indicates that the Government is relying heavily upon the private sector for its implementation, which is unacceptable. Talking about the problems being faced by the shipping industry, the ABG Shipyard scam comes to the forefront. It is the same company for which the BJP Government of Gujarat had allotted 1.21 lakh sq.mtr. of land at Dahej, Gujarat at 100 per cent reduced rate. Despite the adverse report of CAG, the land was sold at Rs.700 per sq. mtr. instead of Rs.1,400. The company was caught in one of the highest scams, that is, of Rs.22,892 crore in 2016 but the FIR was filed very recently in February, 2022. Why is the delay? What is the current situation of the case? How is the Government planning to bring back the lost amount? I would request the hon. Minister to address this issue in his reply.
Along with these problems, the currentproblem being faced by the traders revolves around the ongoing war. There have been sanctions on the Russian ports which are important to the Indian market. Not only that, huge number of
obtaining containers are stuck in Russia leading to a dearth of the same. Freight rates have gone high. Perishable items of exports like fruits such as grapes are getting destroyed. In such a scenario, the traders and farmers are severely affected. I would like to request the Minister to look into the matter and also enlighten the House on the steps taken by the Government to combat the effects of war on shipping and its dependent industries. Here, I would like to ask the hon. Minister whether 21 stranded sailors near the Black Sea were rescued or not. This I say so because I did not get any update regarding the same. The shipping and port industry is plagued with regulatory and permissionrelated obstacles. Here, I would like to take the opportunity to mention that the Government of West Bengal has created a single window channel for all the works related to the non-major ports. Even the Tajpur port, which will be completed within three years, due to the efforts of our hon. Chief Minister, Mamata Bandyopadhyay, will boost the economy of the State. Similar steps should be taken for the major ports falling under the responsibility of the Central Government. The Waterways Authority of India has found out 25 out of 111 national waterways fit for cargo or passenger movements. The National Waterways No.44 on river Ichhamati is one of these. I would like to know from the Minister about the status of the construction work of the same. According to the detailed project report, it should have been completed within 24 months since the beginning of construction. Moreover, there are ferries already running in the areas along Bashirhat and Itinda. So, what will be the future of these ferries once the said waterway is constructed. Once the cargo transportation becomes operational, there is bound to be water pollution. How will that be taken care of? In 2020-21, the share of major ports had declined to 54 per cent while that
of non-major ports increased to 46 per cent. In the upcoming future the nonmajor ports will be handling more cargo and the Government in its 2021 Bill is centralising the power even more. The need of the hour is to decentralise and
give the State Governments their due share of power for a better future. With these words, I am concluding the speech, with thanks to the Chair for allowing me to complete my speech. I hope that the Minister will address the
issues which I have raised here
