Ministry of Ports, Shipping, and Waterways (MoPSW) have identified new Routes for Inland waterways. The ministry has identified different domestic locations as well as 6 international routes. The ministry is continuously working to promote coastal shipping under the Sagarmala Project.
Key Points
- Domestic locations identified by the ministry are Okha, DIU, Hazira, Dahej, Somnath Temple, PIPAVAV, Jamnagar, Mandvi, Kochi, Mumbai/JNPT, Goa, Mundra, and Ghogha.
- Six international routes identified by the ministry connect 4 international destinations namely Seychelles (East Africa), Chattogram (Bangladesh), Jaffna (Sri Lanka), and Madagascar (East Africa) from Indian major coastal port towns for the start of ferry services through inland waterways.
- Through Sagarmala Development Company Limited (SDCL), the ministry aims to help the companies in operating RO-PAX, RO-RO, and Ferry services on different routes across the country by providing the required support.
- The ministry has also implemented a similar ferry route recently by placing a RoPAX vessel ferry service between Hazira and Ghogha.
- This ferry service between Ghogha and Hazira has reduced the distance between Ghogha and Hazira to 90 Km from 370 Km. The time of travel has been reduced to around 5 hours from 10 to 12 hours earlier.
- With an aim to replicate the success of the above business model, the ministry is now encouraging the private operator to identify the routes for commencing the RO-RO, RO-PAX ferry service.
Sagarmala Project
The Sagarmala programme is the flagship programme of MoPSW for promoting port-led development in India through utilizing the country’s 7,500 Km long coastline and potentially navigable waterways.
