272 road & rail projects being implemented under Sagarmala scheme: Sonowal

New Delhi, July 29 There are 272 road and rail connectivity projects under the Sagarmala Programme that are being executed by the Ministry of Road, Transport and Highways, the Ministry of Railways, major ports, and private sector concessionaires, the Parliament was informed on Tuesday.

Out of these 272 projects, 74 projects have been completed, 67 projects are under implementation, and 131 are under development, Minister of Ports, Shipping and Waterways Sarbananda Sonowal said in a written reply to a question in the Rajya Sabha.

At the top of the Sagarmala framework, a National Sagarmala Apex Committee has been constituted for overall policy guidance and high-level coordination, and to review aspects of planning and implementation of the plan and projects. The Ministry of Ports and Shipping holds Maritime States Development Council (MSDC) meetings from time to time for creating synergy among various stakeholders, such as Central government ministries and state governments, the minister said.

As a part of the Sagarmala Programme, 839 projects at an estimated cost of around 5.79 lakh crore have been identified for implementation, he said. Out of these, 119 projects with a total project cost of Rs 2.42 lakh crore are being implemented through Public-Private Partnership (PPP) mode and the remaining projects are being undertaken with direct government funding in engineering procurement and construction (EPC) mode.

The Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways has revised the Sagarmala Funding Guidelines for more financial propriety and speeding up of project implementation in respect of projects funded through the Sagarmala Scheme, the minister added.

In answer to another question in the Rajya Sabha, Sonowal said that the ministry has signed an MoU with Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC) to establish a Digital Centre of Excellence (DCoE) for the Indian maritime sector, which aims to accelerate digital transformation through advanced IT solutions, foster innovation, and guide the modernisation of port and shipping sector.

The government has launched the SAGAR SETU platform, which aims to boost operational efficiency, productivity, and ease of doing business in the Indian ports and shipping sector for seamless EXIM services, significantly reducing vessel and cargo documentation time through faster and paperless processes, Sonowal said.

To provide a uniform structure for major port tariffs, the government has introduced a standardised Scale of Rates (SOR) template, to provide distinct and uniform definitions and conditions, a consistent structure for categorising various port services and transparent presentation of tariffs, he added.

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