On the heels of the Golden Quadrilateral and the North-South and East-West road projects that are expected to vastly improve connectivity in India, comes the USD 14.2 billion National Maritime Development Programme (NMDP) to boost infrastructure at major ports. The programme is expected to roll out over the next ten years.

Under NMDP, 228 projects have been identified for implementation in two phases through public-private partnership. These include deepening and maintenance of port channels, construction of breakwaters, internal circulation systems of cargo within ports, and rail and road connectivity from ports to the hinterland. Private investments will be in areas where operations are primarily commercial such as construction, management and operation of berths/terminals.

According to the Ministry of Shipping, traffic is likely to grow at all ports at a Compounded Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 7.69 per cent. The highest CAGR has been in container traffic, at 18.31 per cent. To meet the projected traffic of 705.84 million tonnes to be handled by 2013-14 at major ports, a capacity of 917.59 million tonnes has been estimated. This means in the next ten years additional capacities of 528.09 million tonnes would have to be created; the current port capacity is 389.5 million tonnes.

The major ports were asked to identify projects that would meet the demands of growing international traffic and to bring their facilities on par with world standards. Most ports categorised their projects with the fund requirements and the financing pattern under five broad heads as:

1. Projects related to port development (construction of jetties, berths, etc),
2. Procurement, replacement or upgradation of port equipment,
3. Deepening of channels to improve draft,
4. Projects related to port connectivity, and
5. Other related schemes.

The investment envisaged for these projects is estimated at USD 14.2 billion. Of this, USD 9.1 billion is envisaged to come from the private sector; USD 2.7 billion through budgetary support and USD 1.2 billion from port trusts' internal resources. This includes the requirement of funds for the rail and road connectivity for which USD 1.06 billion has been earmarked.