Centre to take steps to develop inland waterways and use of alternative fuel

The Dollar Business Bureau  “The Government is taking steps to develop inland waterways and use of alternative fuel,” said Nitin Gadkari, Union Minister for Shipping and Road Transport & Highways. Gadkari said that his ministry has been taking initiatives not only towards “Clean India” but also in the direction of a “pollution-free India”. Speaking on the occasion of Kamarajar Port Limited (KPL, erstwhile Ennore Port Limited) signing an agreement with M/s Toyota Kirloskar Motor Pvt. Ltd. for export of automobile units through Kamarajar Port in his presence, Gadkari asserted that the Government is conscious about the concerns of the employees of ports. No employee would lose his job due to the modernization and up gradation of ports in the country, he assured. Kamarajar Port is the youngest among the twelve Major Ports, developed as Land Lord Port. Kamarajar Port has a General Cargo Berth (GCB) under its control to handle automobile units. It is RORO berth (Roll on Roll off) where the cars are directly driven into the vessel. The Berth is having a draught of 10 meters and capable of accommodating all types of Car Carriers. The Port has also developed a large car parking yard of 1,41,000 sq. with a capacity to park 10,000 cars, in addition to parking of 2,000 cars at the Berth while loading. Additional parking yard is also being developed to facilitate parking of additional 4,000 cars with all facilities. Recently, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley in his Budget 2015 has promised to encourage “ports in public sector to corporatise, and become companies under the Companies Act”.  

This article was published on March 03, 2015.