India sets target of zero wait time at major ports

Indian Shipping Minister Sarbananda Sonowal has set a target of zero waiting time at country's major ports.

"There should be zero waiting time for inbound and outbound cargo. This means there should be zero waiting of ships as well as for trucks carrying cargo," Sarbananda Sonowal said while speaking at a Chintan Baithak of the ministry.

Sonowal's ambitious targets will require bringing down the current wait time of around a day for berthing at India's major ports needs to zero, reports the Economic Times. 

In the financial year 2020, the average time before a cargo ship was berthed on a major port in India was around 0.95 days. The pre-berthing time is the time a ship or vessel needs to wait before entering in the berth at a port.

According to official estimates, the container turnaround time at Indian major ports is about 26.5 hours. This has come down from around 45-odd hours in 2013-14.

Sonowal also said that the focus should be on public-private partnership (PPP) projects in greenfield port development, "We must look at the PPP model for this that will also ease up government resources for Greenfield port development. This will comprehensively develop the coastal regions of India for ease of living for people living in these areas and, at the same time, helps businesses avail best services through ease," he said.

An official statement said that emphasis was laid on prioritising rail-road-waterways development at the Chintan Baithak for effective implementation of the PM Gati NSE 1.89 % Shakti National Multi Modal Connectivity Plan.

Commenting on the same, Sonowal said that a Master Plan to enable ports to identify and resolve bottlenecks in multi-modal connectivity is the need of the hour.

A total of 157 road connectivity projects and 137 rail connectivity projects are being undertaken for promoting multimodal connectivity at Ports, the statement added.