Port-led economic growth and bringing down
logistics cost to EXIM Trade are focused areas for the Government. With this
perspective, setting up global benchmark and reduce congestion at JNPT to
enable faster cargo movement have been accorded great priority by the Ministry
of Shipping.
In this background, Shri Sanjay Bandopadhyay, IAS, Add.
Secretary, Ministry of Shipping, visited JNPT to review the overall development
and understand the challenges and identify solutions to create seamless facilities
for the stakeholders, says a release.
During his
visit Shri Bandopadhyay held discussions with JNPT chairman and other senior
officials.
The ministry is keen to focus on expansion of JNPT and development of
various infrastructure projects such as SEZ, Dry Ports, road connectivity and harnessing
modern technology to create positive environment
for the trade. MOS is also concentrating on digitization which can help Indian
ports to be at par with the international markets.
Shri Neeraj Bansal, Chairman-in-Charge, JNPT
shared an overview of various initiatives under the Ease of Doing Business and
other measures being implemented at the port. The port which currently is
handling 4.8 million TEUs will double the capacity after the completion of phase-2
of fourth terminal. JNPT is also focusing on expansion of liquid cargo
terminal, shallow water berth to increase the cargo handling capacity.
Shri Bansal also informed about the
financial performance of JNPT which recorded operating profit of Rs 1140 crore,
which is the highest among Indian major ports and shared the future projections
of port’s performance in the coming years.
Further he said, five new tank farms have
been auctioned which will add more profits for the port and will increase the
storage capacity. The Direct Port Delivery (DPD), Direct Port Entry (DPE) and Inter
Terminal movement of Tractor Trailers (ITT) initiatives have helped the trade
by reduction in dwell time and road congestion.
Shri Bansal also informed that JNPT has
been working on a new software system for liquid terminal which will showcase online
berth availability, transparency, storage capacity, window period in advance
which will benefit the trade. Port is also improving dredging capacity to get
mother vessels at terminal.
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