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Mansukh Mandaviya, Minister of State for Shipping, in a written reply to Rajya Sabha informed that the Government is continuously monitoring and striving to reduce the turnaround time of vessels at ports.
A study has been conducted for benchmarking efficiency and productivity of major ports to bring them at par with the international standards.
Out of 116 port-wise action points identified in the study, 93 initiatives have already been completed resulting in a reduction of Turnaround Time at major ports from 82.32 hours in the year 2016-17 to 59.51 hours in the year 2018-19.
Also, regarding the Government’s initiatives for promoting inland water transport in the country, the minister informed the house that 111 Inland waterways have been declared as National Waterways (NWs) until now.
Further to it, the minister also shared the progress of Jal Marg Vikas Project (JMVP) which is being carried out by the Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI).
The project’s estimated cost is Rs.5369.18 crore for capacity augmentation of various National Waterways including Haldia-Varanasi stretch of NW-1.
After the statutory clearances, projects worth Rs.1800 crore approximately have already been commenced on the ground in a time period of three years. Also, fairway development works have commenced in Vijayawada-Muktyalasretch of River Krishna (part of NW-4) at a cost of Rs.96 crore.
