Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways has stated yesterday that the Government has assessed the progress of port modernisation and logistics efficiency as a result of which the overall average turnaround time of vessels in major ports has reduced from 52.87 hrs in 2021-22 to 49.47 hrs in 2024-25. Further, the container turnaround time in major ports has reduced from 32.39 hrs in 2021-22 to 30.08 hrs in 2024-25. Union Budget 2026–27 has announced the launch of a Coastal Cargo Promotion Scheme to increase the share of Inland Waterways and Coastal Shipping from 6% to 12% by 2047. To strengthen coastal shipping, the Government has undertaken measures including 40% discount on vessel and cargo charges to coastal cargo vessels at major ports, priority berthing, Green Channel clearance, and reduction of GST on bunker fuel for Indian-flagged vessels from 18% to 5% etc.
To strengthen the Inland Waterways, the Government has undertaken various infrastructure and policy measures. On the infrastructure side, initiatives include fairway maintenance work, construction of community and tourist jetties, floating and permanent inland water transport terminals with storage facilities, construction of intermodal and multimodal terminals etc. The Government has also taken various steps to improve India’s competitiveness in global maritime trade such as policy reforms, Infrastructural reforms under Sagarmala Scheme, port expansion, multimodal connectivity to Improve logistics efficiency etc.