Railway Ministry to take up port connectivity projects

The Dollar Business Bureau

The Railway Ministry is planning to take up the 21 port-rail connectivity projects at an estimated cost of Rs 20,000 crore under the Sagarmala project with a view to strengthen the evacuation network and to boost the last-mile connectivity to the country’s ports. India Port Rail Corporation Ltd. has taken six additional projects.

“The Ministry of Railways will be taking up 21 port-rail connectivity projects, at an estimated cost of more than Rs 20,000 crore, as identified under the port-connectivity enhancement objective of Sagarmala,” a statement from the Shipping Ministry said.

For the quick evacuation of cargo, IPRCL has awarded three connectivity projects to Chennai and Visakhapatnam. There are another 19 projects in the pipeline.

In April 2016, the government had identified several port-rail connectivity projects including the heavy haul rail line from lb Valley/Talcher to Paradip as part of the National Perspective Plan.

The project will help in transportation of thermal coal from Mahanadi Coal fields Ltd. to different coastal power plants in South India through coastal shipping.

The government had proposed another rail connectivity projects such as Tuticorin, Gopalpur, Dhamra and Krishnapatinam to enhance port connectivity in the remotest area of the country. This would also help in reducing logistics cost and shipment time, thereby making Indian trade more competitive.

Sagarmala is a flagship programme of the Shipping Ministry for promoting the port-led developments all along India’s 14,500 km coastline.

These projects are expected to generate annual logistics cost savings of around Rs.35,000 crore and also boost exports of merchandise by $110 billion by 2025.