Shipping ministry to increase port capacity.

The Ministry of Shipping is planning to increase port capacity by the end of the 12th Five-Year Plan to 2,493.10 million tonnes per annum (mtpa), with major ports (owned by the Union government under the shipping ministry) accounting for about 50 per cent of this capacity.

The ministry made the statements in a year-end review report for 2013. In it, the ministry said that the capacity of Indian ports was 1,245.30 mtpa at the end of the 11th Plan period and the target was to increase it to 2,493.10 mtpa by the end of the 12th Plan.

In 2013-14, the ministry said, 30 projects had been targeted for award involving an additional capacity of 282 mtpa, with an investment of Rs. 24,959 crore. As on September 30, 13 of these projects had already been awarded, entailing an investment of Rs. 3,831.30 crore and an additional capacity of 80.85 mtpa.

During the financial year, the ministry said it had been focusing on new capacity augmentation and mechanisation projects apart from capital dredging ones.

BS