Economic Survey 2023: Government Prioritises Capacity Expansion At 12 Major Ports

The government has accorded top priority to expansion of port capacity, says Economic Survey 2022-23. The capacity enhancement will meet the ever-increasing trade requirements and involves implementation of well-conceived infrastructure development projects, noted the Survey.

Union Minister for Finance, Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday (31 January) tabled in parliament the Economic Survey (ES) 2022-2023, which reviews how the economy performed in this fiscal year and the road ahead for the next year.

The development of ports is crucial for the economy, given that bulk of India’s international trade - around 90 per cent by volume and 79.9 per cent by value - is handled through ports.

The capacity of major ports, which was 871.5 Million Tonnes Per Annum (MTPA) at the end of March 2014, has increased to 1534.9 MTPA by the end of March 2022.

Currently, India has 12 Major ports - Deendayal, Mumbai, Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust (JNPT), Mormugao, New Mangalore, Cochin, Chennai, Ennore (Kamarajar), Tuticorin (V O Chidambaranar), Visakhapatnam, Paradip and Kolkata (including Haldia).

Cumulatively the 12 Major ports handled 720.1 MT traffic during FY22.

The Survey has also explained various initiatives taken to further enhance port efficiency by improving port governance, addressing low-capacity utilisation and modernising berths.

“For streamlining the port compliances and for reducing the Turnaround Time (TAT) for vessels, big strides have been taken at the major ports towards the digitisation of key export-import (EXIM) processes,” it said.

For instance, the Port Community System (PCS 1x) has digitised processes such as Electronic Invoice (e-Invoice), Electronic Payment (e-Payment) and Electronic Delivery Order (e-DO) for the physical release of cargo by custodians, in addition to the processes of generating electronic Bill of Lading (eBL) and Letter of Credit (LC).

Further, the Radio Frequency Identification Device (RFID) solution has been implemented at all major ports to enable seamless movement of traffic across port gates, including substantial reductions in documentation checks.

Additionally, the process to bootstrap PCS 1x into National Logistics Portal-Marine (NLP-Marine) is already under way which will act as a Unified Digital Platform for all maritime stakeholders.

The NLP launched on 27 January is a one-stop platform aimed at connecting all the stakeholders of the logistics community using IT, to improve efficiency and transparency by reducing costs and time delays.