JNPT to get separate railway line: Gadkari
In order to make Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust (JNPT) independent, there are initiatives taken up by the ministry of road transport and highways. Union transport minister Nitin Gadkari said that in order to develop JNPT, there is a need for it to go independent in terms of connectivity.
He added that if there are 47 containers coming from Indore, there is a need to connect it to JNPT. But as it takes too long for the transport via railway, he believes having a separate line will help save time and money. Also, Indore connects to Delhi, making this a feasible option. “We are going to construct a railway line from Indore to Manmard. We are ready for that. After that there will be separate railway line from Kasara going to JNPT,” stated Gadkari, during Indo-American Chamber of Commerce (IACC) two-day conference.
State-run JNPT might also get one road that will connect Mumbai to Pune and from Pune to Goa, he stated. He added that last financial year all ports and organisation were running in profit of upto Rs 6,000 crore. The ports are all going through process of mechanisation and modernisation. “We are building ports with international standards,” said the minister.
Talking about the Sagar Mala, Gadkari stated that investment of Rs 12 lakh cr is expected. He gave the division of the investment: Rs 2 lakh cr will be for road and railway connectivity; Rs 1 lakh cr of modernisation and mechanisation of ports; Rs 1 lakh cr for new ports; and Rs 8 lakh cr is for the 27 industrial clusters. The ministry is very serious of these industrial clusters. He stated that these industrial clusters will generate more employment. Soon, automobile will be added to the cluster.
The ministry is looking at scrapping of cars as an opportunity. There are plans to give a presentation of the same to ministry of finance. This project has the capacity to go up to Rs 20 lakh cr, claimed Gadkari. JNPT is working on various zones for such clusters; and is eyeing an investment of Rs 4,000 cr and hopeful about employing over one lakh people. Apart from ports, Gadkari is eyeing investments into waterways. He hopes to increase waterway transport from 20,000 tonnes to 2 lakh tonnes. The Parliament has already decided to convert 114 rivers into waterways. This will save time and bring down cost.
Another ambitious target of the minister is construction of 41 km per day, as of now it is 22 km per day. The ministry also hopes to achieve 2 lakh km of national highway.