Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday, November 8 renamed the Ministry of Shipping as the Ministry of Ports, Shipping, and Waterways.
He made the announcement during a launch event of Ropax ferry service between Ghogha (Bhavnagar) and Hazira (near Surat) in Gujarat, via video-conferencing. Meanwhile, an official announcement regarding the same is yet to happen.
"The name of Ministry of Shipping is being changed to Ministry of Ports, Shipping, and Waterways," PM Modi said.
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The decision to change the name of the Shipping Ministry is part of Modi government's efforts to revamp the ports and create world-class Inland Water Transport.
"The Ministry of Shipping encompasses within its fold shipping and port sectors which include Shipbuilding, Ship-repair, Major Ports, National Waterways, and Inland Water Transport," the ministry wrote in a blog published on its official website.
"The capacity of the ports in terms of their berths and cargo handling equipment needs to be vastly improved to cater to the growing requirements of the overseas trade. The shipping industry needs to be enabled to carry higher shares of the sea-borne trade in indigenous bottoms," the ministry noted in the blog.
"Historically, investment in the transport sector, particularly in the ports, have been made by the States mainly because of the large volume of resources required, long gestation periods, uncertain returns and various externalities, both positive and negative, associated with this infrastructure," it added.
This is not the first time the Centre has changed the name of a ministry. The name of the Ministry of Human Resource and Development, in July this year, was changed to the Ministry of education under the New Education Policy 2020.