Govt to invite private investment in 400 port, shipping projects worth Rs 2 lakh crore

Shipping secretary Sanjeev Ranjan on Friday said that the government has identified about 400 projects valued at over Rs 2 lakh crore that will be offered to the private sector for investment in the port and shipping sector.

Addressing a conference on three-day India Maritime Summit, 2021, to be inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on March 2, Ranjan said, "We have identified a compendium of 400 investable projects valued at Rs 2 lakh crore that will be offered to the private sector for investment in during the three day summit."

Responding to a query from BusinessToday.In, Ranjan said, "With a number of reforms in the sector, the projects are viable for the private sector to be taken up. The projects will be taken up on a public-private partnership (PPP) basis. There will be provision of viability gap funding (VGF) wherever needed."

"Maritime India Summit 2021 will promote domestic as well as international investments in Indian maritime sector. The shipping ministry has undertaken a number of major reforms. But there is still a lot of work to be achieved in the sector," Ranjan added.

The summit aims at exploring the potential business opportunities in the Indian maritime sector and Atmanirbhar Bharat initiative. A slew of memorandums of understanding (MoUs) in the ports and shipping sector are under consideration and will be given shape in the upcoming summit.

Director General of Shipping Amitabh Kumar said during the conference that the MoUs that have been lined up will be given final shape during the summit. A total of 300 MoUs involving an investment of Rs 10,000 crore and job opportunities for about 55,000 aspirants have been envisaged to be approved in the summit.

Ranjan said that the government has already come out with Maritime India Vision 2030 which envisages developing world-class ports infrastructure, smart ports, ocean and iceland cruise and urban transport system on waterways. "More than 50 initiatives have been identified to ensure smart operations of ports. In addition, building port cities, maritime industrial clusters, green and sustainable water transport are the areas being looked at. All the initiatives open up new investment opportunities," said Ranjan.

Tha Maritime India Summit, 2021, will also seek investment in Chabahar port, developed by India, in Afghanistan. Sanjay Bandopadhyaya, additional secretary, Ministry of Shipping, said, "Chabahar port is an important investment of India linking to Afghanistan. Till January 31, 123 vessels have operated at the port handling 14,000 TEUs of container and 18,000 lakh tonne of bulk cargo has been handled at the port. India has sent wheat, pesticide and other consignments to Afghanistan. In the session, during the summit, we would like to leverage investments from domestic as well as international investors in the Chabahar port."

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