India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor will reduce costs, increase efficiency: PM
Several years ago, silk route had sped up global trade. This route became the foundation for the development of many countries. This historic corridor too will change the face of regional and global trade,” the PM said as he virtually addressed the third edition of Global Maritime India Summit.
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Prime Minister Narendra Modi attends the inauguration of the Global Maritime India Summit (GMIS) 2023 via a video conference, on Tuesday, Oct. 17, 2023. (PTI Photo) The India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor will reduce business costs, increase logistical efficiency and create a large number of jobs, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said in Mumbai on Tuesday.
“Recently under India’s initiative, a step has been taken that has the potential to revolutionise the global maritime industry in the 21st century. During the G20 summit, a historic consensus happened for the India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor. Several years ago, silk route had sped up global trade. This route became the foundation for the development of many countries. This historic corridor too will change the face of regional and global trade,” the PM said as he virtually addressed the third edition of Global Maritime India Summit.
“The construction of next generation mega ports and international container transshipment ports, island development, inland waterways, expansion of multimodal hubs, would be taken up under this project. This corridor will reduce business cost, increase logistical efficiency, reduce impact on environment and help in creation of huge number of jobs. For the investors this is a big opportunity to align with India and become part of this initiative,” he added.
Modi also dedicated, inaugurated and laid foundation stone for 21 projects worth Rs 18,000 crore. The projects included Rs 4,539-crore all-weather, deep draft container terminal of Deendayal Port Trust (DPT) at Tuna Tekra in Gujarat that was described as an “international trade hub as part of the India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor” at the inaugural event of the summit. However, the Prime Minister did not touch upon the greenfield container terminal in his speech.
He said the capacity of major ports have doubled in the last decade. “The turnaround time for container vessels in 2014 was about 42 hours. This has reduced to less than 24 hours in 2023,” he added. The Prime minister also said that in the past one decade, the coastal shipping traffic has doubled, while the cargo handled by in-land waterways, have grown four times.
“India will be among the top five ship-building nations in the next few decades,” PM Modi said, pointing out that ship leasing activities have begun in GIFT City where “four major ship leasing companies have already registered with GIFT IFSC”.
He also referred to the under construction National Maritime Heritage Museum being built in Lothal.
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