Within this month Goa has witnessed the inauguration of two mega infrastructure projects, Mopa Airport and Zuari Bridge. It speaks volumes about how the State is progressing towards building up its logistics infrastructure to the ease the lives of its citizens. For Goa it is going to have a big impact in the job market as well because growth in infrastructure will lead to setting up of many hotels, shops and gas stations alongside the structures built.
In the recent past, the country’s logistics sector has seen a robust growth. In fact, it steadied post the onset of Covid-19, primarily due to the escalating retail and manufacturing and supply ecosystem in India while India realised the need for better logistics to ensure proper supply of goods and materials. The average middle-class consumer is better informed and capable of spending more money on lifestyle needs. If there has been one drawback that constantly challenged this growth, it is the lack of streamlining and modernisation of operations.
However, in 2021, with a rapid and impactful change, the Indian logistics sector was expected to be worth over $300 billion by the end of 2021. This year, we saw great investments made in infrastructure development. Modern technology-driven integrated logistics platforms and service providers are spearheading the new normal of transportation. Roads, warehouses, ports and dedicated transport hubs are being planned and built. With greater export volumes and connectivity between manufacturing centres and markets, the logistics volumes are bound to go up.
In logistics infrastructure development the use of waterways is gradually becoming very lucrative and important. India too is moving towards waterway transportation. In FY 2017-18 the cargo traffic on national waterways registered 55.01 million tonnes but in FY 2018-19 the figure went up by 31 per cent registering 72.31 million tonnes. With this there is clear lesson for the state of Goa.
Also, the Sagarmala project which is a programme under the Ministry of Shipping, Government of India has four major pillars. The first being on how to enhance the port’s capacity whether it is a green-field or a brown-field port. The modernisation of a port can be done either by increasing its capacity or by reducing the turn-around time of a ship. The second pillar would be the last mile connectivity. For example if there is a port and if the evacuation from the port is not taking place due to poor road and railway network then the government steps in to build that last mile connectivity to make the port more viable and business friendly.
The third is the port-led industrialisation which is one of the biggest schemes of the Government of India in which we are looking forward to having several coastal economic zones along our 7500 kilometre long coastal land. This will be industrial belt where a land parcel of something around 2000-3000 acre land will be developed by the various State governments and the Sagarmala Development Company Limited together and then later it will be given to the industry. The fourth one is the coastal community development.
For Goa all such developments will be very beneficial as the land is scarce and the floating population is relatively very high as compared to other states in the country and Goa needs to ensure that its logistic systems are placed correctly. The State has plenty of rivers which can be used as inland waterways. It is economical too. According to the Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI), operational cost per tonne per kilometre through inland waterways is Rs 1.06 as compared to Rs 1.41 by rail and Rs 2.28 by road. The total cost of inland navigation, after accounting for accidents, congestion, noise, emissions, air pollution and other environmental impacts is estimated to be one-seventh of that of road transport.
National Waterways will mean that Government of India will aid in river development that is silt clearing or building of navigational channels and its maintenance. In the recent past, the Union government has already committed Rs 22 crore for the development of three rivers in Goa for waterways. A proper waterways policy will take this forwards and it is needed to be done faster as the fuel prices are soaring and roads are getting more congested.
In other parts of the country the IWAI has have also provided roll-in and roll-out vessels. In Goa it has not been provided as yet but IWAI is considering the fact that whether Goa can be benefitted by that or not. Goa has a potential for cargo movement through its waterways and it was observed when the iron-ore mining was at its peak. Goa needs to develop its waterways and it has to be done as soon as possible.
