CEZs, Sagarmala - Current Affairs Questions and Answers

ANSWER: Sagarmala Development Company

Explanation:
The Ministry of Shipping and Road Transport & Highways Shri. Nitin Gadkari said projects worth INR 1 lakh crore under Sagarmala programme at various stages of implementation and development will now be overseen by the Sagarmala Development Company.

This company has been incorporated under the Companies Act 2013 with an initial authorized share capital of INR 1000 crore and a subscribed share capital of INR 90 crore.

Main objective of the company is identification of port led development projects under the Sagarmala programme and provide equity support for the SPVs set up by Ports/State/Central Ministries and funding window or implement only those residual projects which cannot be funded by any other means/mode.

Cabinet has approved the formation of SDC under the administrative control of the Ministry of Shipping in July 2016.

Company would work towards structuring activities, bidding out projects for private sector participation, identifying risk management measures for strategic projects across multiple regions and states and obtaining the approvals and clearances.

Implementation of the identified project will be taken up by Port/State/Central Govt or Maritime Board through private or PPP mode.

Company will act as a nodal agency for the coordination and monitoring of currently identified projects under Sagarmala as well as other projects from the master plans or other sources.

A detailed master plan will also be prepared for CEZs as part of the National Perspective Plan. SDC will raise funds as debt/equity (long term capital) as per project requirements by leveraging resources provided by government of India and from multilateral and bilateral funding agencies.

About the Sagarmala Programme

Aims to harness:

• 7500 km long coastline
• 14,500 km of potentially navigable waterways
• Strategic location on key international maritime trade routes
• Approved in March 2015 by the Union Cabinet.

ANSWER: Coastal Economic Zone

Explanation:
Under the Sagarmala Programme of Ministry of Shipping, five reports have been prepared to provide implementation of roadmap for holistic port-led development in the country and to engage with various stakeholders

• The reports have been posted on the Ministry of Shipping website. The Ministry is reaching out to relevant stakeholders to apprise them of the findings / recommendations in these reports and to obtain relevant feedback on the same.
• The reports include the cargo traffic projections in the ports and related logistics bottlenecks, plans for port capacity enhancement, perspective plans for the Coastal Economic Zones proposed under Sagarmala and the policy level recommendations to make port-led development successful in India.
• The programme will change the way logistics evaluation is carried out in the country and will require active participation of stakeholders including central and state government, industry bodies and agencies

ANSWER: It is a mix of different modes of transport

Explanation:

• Multimodal Mix is using two or more different modes of transport for carrying cargo.
• One of the key objectives of the Sagarmala programme is to reduce the cost of transporting cargo by optimizing the modal mix.
• It has been estimated that the cost per tonne kilometre of moving cargo by sea or inland waterway routes can be 60 to 80 percent lower than road or rail.
• However, the modal share of coastal shipping and inland waterways remains low. Several production and demand centres in India lie close to the coastline and rivers, yet the waterways are under-utilized.
• The National Perspective Plan of Sagarmala envisions projects which have potential for moving raw materials and finished products between these centres using coastal shipping and inland waterways instead of rail or road. The change in modal mix could lead to large amount of savings in logistic costs.

ANSWER: Sagarmala

Explanation:
To provide a boost to the Make in India initiative and promote port led industrialisation, Ministry of Shipping organised a workshop on Coastal Economic Zones or CEZs under the Sagarmala programme in New Delhi.

• Workshop focused on 14 coastal economic zones identified under the National Perspective Plan of the Sagarmala.
• Workshop apprised participants that CEZs will be aligned to relevant ports in the maritime states and will house Coastal Economic Units for setting up manufacturing facilities.
• The CEZs have been conceptualised as spatial economic regions extending 300-500 km of coastline and 200-300 km inland from the coast.
• CEZ will be an agglomeration of coastal districts within the State.

ANSWER: 2, 3, 4

Explanation:

• As part of the National Perspective Plan, prepared under the Sagarmala Programme of the Ministry of Shipping, 7 Multi-Modal Logistic Parks (MMLPs) were proposed in Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan, Odisha, Telangana, Uttarakhand and West Bengal.
• The potential sites were identified based on comprehensive study of the container cargo movement across the country and are located in the proximity of important industrial clusters.
• This will be advantageous for the transportation of containerized cargo.

ANSWER: All of the above

Explanation:

• Projects have been identified across the areas of Port Modernization & New Port Development, Port Connectivity Enhancement, Port-led Industrial Development and Coastal Community Development.
• To modernize India’s port infrastructure, 5 to 6 new ports have been proposed to be built. There will be modernization of existing ports too.
• The second focus area is port connectivity, where over 80 projects are being planned. These include connectivity infrastructure projects like a heavy-haul rail corridor to evacuate large volumes of coal in Odisha, freight-friendly expressways to enable efficient movement of containers on key routes, and the development of strategic inland waterways.
• The third set of projects aims to tap into the potential of port-led industrialization to boost industrial and export growth along the coastline. This will be realized through 14 Coastal Economic Zones (CEZs) along the coastline, each of which will house a number of industrial clusters.
• Finally, the potential of coastal communities will be harnessed by focused skill-development to support port-led industrialization. The set of initiatives under this head also includes developing opportunities for fishermen and other coastal communities as well as development of the numerous islands along India’s coastline.

ANSWER: Sagarmala

Explanation:
- The Centre is going to implement a comprehensive plan to develop Andaman & Nicobar and Lakshadweep islands, for an integrated modernization of the region, under its 'Sagarmala' initiative.
- The plan is to develop these islands under the 'Swiss challenge system', where third parties make offers (challenges) for a project within a designated period to avoid exaggerated project costs.
DEVELOPMENT ROAD MAP
- Island development consultant to be appointed
- Islands with more than two square km of area to be considered for the project
- Phase I: Assessment, shortlisting of islands, creation of island clusters
- Phase II: Identification of development potential and opportunities for shortlisted clusters
- Phase III: Creation of detailed development plans and selection of implementation agency
- Phase IV: Project implementation monitoring