Mr. Milind Deora, Minister of State for Communication & IT, is entrusted with the additional charge of Minister of State for Shipping since Oct. 31. After assuming charge, Mr. Deora visited Mumbai Port Trust Office, where he had a meeting with Mr. Rajeev Gupta, Chairman, MbPT, and other senior officers on Nov. 1.Mr. S Hajara, SCI Chairman, and Mr. N N Kumar, Deputy Chairman, JNPT, were also present to welcome the new State Shipping Minister. During his visit, he spoke about the port’s future.
Later, the Minister told newsmen that JNPT handles 60 % of exim traffic. He stated that his top most priority, along with inviting private participation in the sector, would be to utilise the country’s massive coastline by creating economic opportunities. “Sea is an untapped resource, especially from recreation point of view, and my priority will be to utilise our massive coastline, in terms of employment and investment opportunities in the sector,” he added.
“This (Shipping) industry is a barometer of what we can expect from the global economy. In the area of shipping there are many opportunities like in ship building for Indian companies,” Mr. Deora said and added that his Ministry would look at investment proposals from private companies in the sector. Another area that the newly appointed Minister aims at is the safety of sailors or seafarers.
He stated that the Ministry of Shipping has set a target of awarding 42 projects during the current financial year (2012-13) including two new major port projects. The total capacity addition would be 245 million tonnes involving 42 projects at an investment of about Rs. 14,000 crores. “We have received in-principle approval for two new major ports, we have already floated a new note and we hope that by this month we should be able to get Cabinet approval,” he pointed out.
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