Development Report-Infrastructure-4
Ports & Inland Waterways
– Sagarmala Project: Basic objective of the Sagarmala Programme is to reduce logistics cost for EXIM and domestic trade with minimal infrastructure investment. This is to be done by Reducing cost of transporting domestic cargo through optimizing modal mix, Lowering logistics cost of bulk commodities by locating future industrial capacities near the coast, Improving export competitiveness by developing port proximate discrete manufacturing clusters & Optimizing time/cost of EXIM container movement.
As part of Sagarmala Programme, total 574 projects at the cost of 6.01 Lacs Crores have been identified for implementation, during 2015-2035 period. This include projects for port modernization & new port development, port connectivity enhancement, port-linked industrialization and coastal community development. As of 30-September-2019, a total of 121 projects cost: Rs. 30,228 Crores have been completed and 201 projects having cost of Rs.309,048/-( Rs. Three Lac Nine Thousand Forty Eignt only) Crores are under implementation.(Source- htttp://sagarmala.gov.in/projects/projects-under-sagarmala)
Inland Waterways: The Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI)- Though this authority came in to existence on 27th October 1986 by an Act for development and regulation of inland waterways for shipping and navigation. Up to the year 2014 India has lagged behind in developing its waterways. When Modi Government came to power Shri Modi has moved swiftly to create waterways. He took first step in 2016 and got the National Waterways Act, 2016 passed by both Houses of the Parliament.The Act paved the way for the creation of 111 National Riverways across the country to promote shipping and navigation on them. The total length of NWs is 20,275 kms spread across 24 States.
The First National Waterway 1 (NW-1) This is on Ganga-Bhagirathi-Hooghly river system runs from Prayagraj in Uttar Pradesh to Haldia in West Bengal across the Ganges river. It is 1,620 km (1,010 mi) long. The foundation stone of waterway terminal was laid in August 2016 by Shri Nitin Gadkari, at Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh. He flagged off the trial run of two vessels which carried newly manufactured cars of Maruti Suzuki from Varanasi to Haldia, West Bengal.On 12 November 2018 Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated multi-modal terminal at Varanasi. The NW-1 is being developed at an estimated cost of ₹4,200 crore with financial assistance from the World Bank. The 1,620 km route of NW-1 will be upgraded to maintain the following least available depth to allow for higher tonnage vessels of 1,500-2,000 tonnage to ply on the route.
Modi government has planned to develop inland waterways including rivers like Ganga, Brahmaputra and Mahanadi. The government is spending around Rs 4,000 crore for developing waterway facilities in Ganga. There is separate Namami Gange project which is aims at cleaning the water of Ganga river.
6) Future Plans for Infrastructure Development
– The National Infrastructure Pipeline (NIP) for FY 2019-25 – This is a first-of-its-kind, whole-of-government exercise to provide world-class infrastructure to citizens and improving their quality of life. It aims to improve project preparation and attract investments into infrastructure. To draw up the NIP, a High-Level Task Force was constituted under the chairmanship of the Secretary, Department of Economic Affairs (DEA), Ministry of Finance. The Final Report on National Infrastructure Pipeline for FY 20-25 of the Task Force was released by the Union Minister for Finance & Corporate Affairs, Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman on 29th April, 2020.
The NIP for F.Y.2019-25 has a total of 8148 projects in it. The total project cost is 1942.22 billion USD. Out of these total projects 1868 projects are currently under development. There are 34 sub sectors under this project.
Note- In this compilation infrastructure related to Transport & Industrial development only is considered. Infrastructure related to Health or Digital Infrastructure is compiled separately.
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