Parliamentary Committee Emphasises The Need For Increased Draft Depth At Indian Ports Under Sagarmala Programme

India's parliamentary committee has emphasised the need of increasing draft depth of almost all ports, based on cargo profile.

The increased depth is suggested to be undertaken as part of the Sagarmala Programme, in order to advance the ports for accommodating larger vessels.

According to the latest report, the parliamentary standing committee on transport, tourism, and culture reported that the draft depth at major ports has been persistently low, with a historical range of seven metres in older ports, and upto 20 metres in the newer ports.

"Though the government has taken a number of initiatives to modernise our ports under the Sagarmala Programme, a lot remains to be done to ensure deep-draft availability to handle mega ships," the committee said, as per ET report.

Despite changes in cargo trends and ship sizes, the current draft depth at the ports does not align with these developments.

The committee believes more can be done for deep-draft availability to handle mega ships under the Sagarmala projects.

It has been observed that increased competition and economy of scale has fuelled the development of bigger ships and to accommodate such vessels, ports must have access channels of sufficient depth along with advanced and highly efficient terminal facilities.

According to the recommendations of the committee, the programme requires to carry an assessment of dredging needs at all Indian ports to facilitate larger ships.  

It further urged the Ministry of Ports to promptly address unresolved issues — such as land acquisition and CRZ clearances — to speed up the implementation of Sagarmala projects.

There is significant potential to develop port infrastructure in India and compete with other leading maritime nations, by driving cost effectiveness.

Currently, only two Indian ports are in the top 40 Global Container Ports list.

In order to meet the future objectives, the committee recommended that Indian ports undergo overall capacity augmentation and cost competitiveness be prioritised.

The goal is for India to have at least five of its ports in the top 40 ports in terms of container throughput within the next five to seven years.