Only in India, will a new policy that covers the period from 2010 to 2020 be released in January 2011. A year late is still good, just take the targets with a grain of salt.
Shipping Minister G.K. Vasan hopes to more than triple India’s annual port handling capacity to 3.2 billion tons, while unveiling the “Maritime Agenda 2010-2020” plan.
The government hopes to increase India’s share in global ship building to 5% from the present 1% and the share of Indian seafarers in the global shipping industry from the present 6.5 percent at least 9 percent by 2015. Vasan also plans to develop two major new ports, one each on east and west coasts but did not disclose the proposed locations. At present the harbors in Mumbai handle almost half of all international trade. Private ports in Gujarat and elsewhere are growing very fast in recent years.
