Indian prime urges port sector to expand

Indian Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh Saturday urged the shipping industry to develop inland warterways and accelerate the pace of expansion of the port sector through public private partnerships. He said this in his address during an event held here to mark Shipping Corporation of India''s 50 years of service. "A good transport infrastructure is critical not only for increasing the pace of India''s economic development but also for making our growth processes more inclusive. We should look seriously at coastal shipping and the development of inland waterways as environment friendly and fuel efficient modes of transport for optimizing the overall logistics cost and reaching the hinterland of our country," said Dr Singh. There is an urgent need to further develop the national fleet with India''s growing international trade, increasing energy demand and dependence on global energy markets, he said and called upon the Indian shipping companies to pursue their growth plans in tune with the global economic environment. Dr Singh congratulated the SCI management and their achievements like providing long haul container services and Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) cargo transportation through joint ventures with international shipping companies.