Sonowal announces ‘Panch Karma Sankalp’ at Chintan Shibir
Union Minister of Ports, Shipping & Waterways (MoPSW) and Ayush, Mr. Sarbananda Sonowal has announced Panch Karma Sankalp focusing on green shipping and digitization of the ports at the ministry’s second Chintan Shibir held in Munnar, Kerala recently.
The ‘Panch Karma Sankalp’ includes 5 major announcements which include – MoPSW to provide 30% financial support for the promotion of Green Shipping; Under the Green Tug Transition Programme Jawaharlal Nehru Port, VO Chidambaranar Port, Paradip Port, and Deendayal Port, Kandla will procure two tugs each; Deendayal Port and VO Chidambaranar Port, Tuticorin to be developed as Green Hydrogen Hub; Single Window Portal to facilitate and monitor river and sea cruises; Jawaharlal Nehru Port and VO Chidambaranar Port, Tuticorin to become smarts port by next year.
The Minister was joined by Shripad Naik, MoS, MoPSW & Tourism, Mr. Shantanu Thakur, MoS, MoPSW, Mr. Sudhansh Pant, Secretary, MoPSW and others including Chairpersons of all major ports, heads of the other organizations/PSU’s of the Ministry and senior officials. The minister underlined how these initiatives are poised to make India a global leader in the maritime sector.
Speaking on the occasion, Mr. Sonowal said “The initiatives announced will not only further this objective but also help us bring in more sustainable development in the maritime sector. Union Minister further said that he would review the progress with respect to these targets after a few months and mentioned strict action may be taken in case of any delay in the completion of the project.
During the session, Mr. Shripad Y Naik, MoS, MoPSW mentioned, ‘the port modernization projects under Sagarmala Programme of MoPSW have improved the efficiency of the ports significantly’. It is to be noted that in the last 8 years under the Sagarmala Programme, 90 port modernization projects have been completed.
The cargo handled by coastal shipping has grown to 151 MMTPA in 2022-23 which was 74 MMTPA in 2014-15.
Also, consistent growth has been seen in cargo handling via IWT, it was only 30 MTPA in 2014 which has now grown to 126 MTPA in 2022-23.
