Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways has said that a total investment of over Rs 34000 crore has undertaken in the maritime sector in the last 10 years.

In a tweet on X, the ministry said that the government has funded nearly 240 projects across India’s 12 major ports, shipping, and inland waterways.

“A total investment of Rs 34,292 crore under MoPSW has been undertaken in maritime sector in last 10 years, funding approximately 240 projects across India’s 12 major ports, shipping, and inland waterways, resulting in better turnaround time and capacity enhancement,” the ministry said.

Sagarmala & GatiShakti programme driving efficiency

In a report released last year by World Bank, India has climbed six positions on the World Bank’s Logistics Performance Index 2023 owing to a significant reduction in dwell time at ports, which was largely driven by improved investments in infrastructure and technology.

In World Bank’s last report, which was released in 2018, India stood at 44th position. However, in the latest report, India has climbed up to 38th position, which was significantly driven by technology adoption that improved supply chain visibility and reduced delays.

“Since 2015, the government of India has invested in trade-related soft and hard infrastructure connecting port gateways on both coasts to the economic poles in the hinterland. Technology has been a critical component of this effort, with implementation under a public-private partnership of a supply chain visibility platform, which contributed to remarkable reductions of delays,” the report had stated.

Visakhapatnam port leads the way

According to the World Bank’s report the introduction of cargo tracking helped in reducing the dwell time in the eastern port of Visakhapatnam from 32.4 days in 2015 to 5.3 days in 2019.

Recently, the Visakhapatnam port also ranked 19th in the list of the Container Port Performance Index 2023, developed by the World Bank and S&P Global Market Intelligence.

The port also achieved the highest cargo handling in the month of May 2024, breaking its own record of March 2024.The port handled the highest throughput of 85,81,927 metric tonne in May 2024. This feat was achieved by handling 221 vessels surpassing the previous record of 76,22,732 metric tonnes from 201 vessels in March 2024.