Rajive Kumar News

India's biggest container traffic handler Jawaharlal Nehru Port (JNPT) has achieved yet another milestone in its ambitious journey to become a world class maritime hub when the Prime Minister Narendra Modi laid the foundation stone for the fourth container terminal, proposed to be developed at an estimated cost of Rs. 7915 Crores (USD 1.23 bln) on DBFOT basis. Modi arrived at the JNPT Helipad- accompanied by the Maharashtra Governor Ch. Vidyasagar Rao, Union Minister of Shipping, Road Transport & Highways  Nitin Gadkari, the state Chief Minister Devendra Fadanvis and other dignitaries. Modi witnessed a six minute Video presentation on JNPT and Fourth Container Terminal (FCT). Modi was briefed by Gadkari that the work has been awarded to M/s Bharat Mumbai Container Terminals Pvt. Ltd.

The Ministry of Shipping in India conducted a workshop on “GST for Shipping” in New Delhi today to sensitize all constituents of the maritime fraternity, as the country lauches the new Goods and Services Tax (GST) to revolutionize the country's tax system. The workshop was attended by representatives from ports, various attached and subordinate organizations under the Ministry of Shipping and industry associations. Chairing the workshop Rajive Kumar, Secretary Shipping said that it was the endeavour of the Ministry to try and communicate the efforts of the Government of India to the maritime fraternity, and at the same time understand the concerns of the industry so that there can be a smooth moving over to the GST regime.

The last two years have marked a new high for the Indian Maritime sector, including the Ports as  the Ministry of Shipping is keen to develop the Indian Ports to international standards both in terms of efficiency and infrastructure. Rajive Kumar, the Secretary of Ministry of Shipping, said that “The Maritime India Summit 2016” - first global investment meet  conducted by the Ministry- saw very enthusiastic participation from more than 40 countries. 141 business agreements worth $ 12 billion (Rs. 82,905/- crores) were concluded during the Summit. He informed that the Port sector achieved the distinction of handling more than 1 billion tonnes of cargo throughput in 2015-16. The 12 Major Ports have increased their Operating Profits by nearly Rs. 676 crores as compared to the previous year.

India’s premier container port, Jawaharlal Nehru Port in Navi Mumbai, has signed an agreement with State Bank of India and Development Bank of Singapore for External Commercial Borrowing (ECBB) to the tune of USD 400 Million at a “very competitive” interest rate to improve the infrastructure required for “doubling” its existing capacity to 9.85 Million TEUs annually. The ECB of USD 400 Million ( USD300 Million from the SBI & USD100 from DBS) will be primarily utilised by the JNPT, which has US Dollar denominated foreign currency earnings which can be leveraged for a low cost foreign currency borrowing, for expansion of its existing roads network connecting to its port project as the existing road network for evacuation of traffic is currently operated at a capacity utilisation of 100%.

Cochin Shipyard Limited (CSL) has entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU)  with the government of India for the ongoing fiscal under which targets agreed are in line with aggressive growth plans of the public sector firm. "CSL has signed a MoU with the Government of India for the financial year 2016-17," Ministry of Shipping said in a statement. The Memorandum of Understanding was signed by Shri Rajive Kumar, Secretary Shipping and Shri Madhu S Nair, Chairman & Managing Director, Cochin Shipyard Limited, at New Delhi. The MoU broadly consists of the performance evaluation parameters and targets for Cochin Shipyard for the ensuing year.

Indian minister for shipping Nitin Gadkari has said port and shipping sector has potential to create nearly 4 million direct jobs and 6 million indirect employment opportunities over the next 5 years. Recalling Prime Minister Mr. Narendra Modi’s thrust on port led development, Mr Gadkari said his Ministry has drawn up projects with investment potential of Rs 1,20,000 crores, (US $ 18 billion) which will be showcased at the India Maritime Summit to be held in Mumbai from April 14 -16. These include 27 port based industrial clusters, promotion of coastal shipping and development of inland waterways as part of the Sagarmala Project. The Minister said there was an urgent need to bring down the logistics costs to make our products as well exports competitive.

Projects worth Rs. Indian Government's Minister for Shipping, Road Transport & Highways, Nitin Gadkari said that projects in the ports and shipping sector, worth an  investment of Rs. 1,20,000 Crore ($ 17.5 billion) will be showcased before potential investors at the Maritime India Summit to be held in Mumbai from 14-16 April, 2016. He was talking to news persons in New Delhi today on the occasion of Media Launch of Maritime India Summit, 2016. The Minister said that the focus of the Government is on creating more jobs in the maritime sector. He added that one crore jobs – 4 million direct and 6 million indirect - have been identified to be created in 27 port based industrial clusters, coastal shipping and inland waterways under Sagarmala project.

Bharat Mumbai Container Terminals Private Limited (BMCT), a wholly-owned subsidiary of PSA Bharat Investments Pte Ltd (which is a subsidiary of PSA International) celebrated the laying of the foundation stone today to mark an important chapter in the development of the fourth container terminal in Jawaharlal Nehru Port (JN Port), India. The ceremony was graced by The Honourable Shri Narendra Modi, Prime Minister of India; Shri Nitin Jairam Gadkari, Union Minister for Shipping, Road Transport & Highways; Shri CH Vidyasagar Rao, Governor, Maharashtra; Shri Devendra Fadnavis, Chief Minister, Maharashtra; Shri Rajive Kumar, Secretary, Ministry of Shipping of India…

Union Minister of Shipping, Road Transport & Highways Shri Nitin Gadkari has said that the decline observed in the performance of Major Ports from 2008 to 2014 has reversed and they have shown improvement in their performance in 2015. Shri Gadkari said the profit margins of Major Ports declined from 43% to 28% during 2008 to 2014 and the market share of Major Ports during the period declined from 72% to 57%. Underlining that the development of ports is important for increasing the GDP of the country, the Minister said the focus of the present government is on modernization of Major Ports and increasing their operational efficiency. He…

India will change existing laws governing ports to make them more profitable and efficient, the shipping minister said on Wednesday, putting on hold a plan to turn them into corporate entities under pressure from trade unions and political parties. Finance Minister Arun Jaitley earlier this year announced a plan to corporatise ports, widely seen as an attempt to raise revenues by listing them. Nitin Gadkari said the government has moved to amend existing laws to make the ports' management more independent and professional so that they can be efficient and bring down turnaround times of ships at the 12 major ports in the country. The…

The Memorandum of Understanding between SCI and Ministry of Shipping  for the year 2015 - 2016  was signed on 27th March 2015 at New Delhi by Mr. Rajive Kumar, Secretary (Shipping), MOS and Shri Arun Kumar Gupta, C&MD, SCI. Mr. Alok Srivastava, Additional Secretary, MOS and Capt. Yogesh Puri, Regional Gen. Manager, SCI were also present on the occasion. When asked for details of the MOU, Mr A. K. Gupta stated, "The MoU signed between SCI and Ministry of Shipping can not be made public but it broadly contains Financial and non Financial targets. The Financial parameters are related to growth, profitability and efficiency.