Shipping Min eyes 5% of Central Road Fund for Waterways dev
23/08/2016 14:15
Speaking at the Infrastructure Session of the Indo-American Chamber of Commerce’s Annual Convention in Mumbai, Union Minister for Shipping, Road Transport & Highways, Nitin Gadkari said that his Ministry has sent a proposal seeking allocation of 5 per cent of the Central Road Fund for development of Inland Waterways.
Gadkari further added that, “My Ministry has prepared the proposal, but the final decision will be taken by the Ministry of Finance. I am pursuing the matter.”
The Central Road Fund (CRF) is a non-lapsable fund created under the Central Road Fund Act 2000 out of a cess imposed on petrol and high-speed diesel. The funds are meant to be used to develop and maintain national highways, state roads and railway over and under bridges.
The move to seek a pie in the CRF follows government’s ambitious plan to tap India’s vast network of rivers and canals stretching 14,500 kms for moving goods.
“It is far more cheaper to transport goods by water as compared to road or rail. Currently cargo movement along the five existing national waterways is paltry 3 per cent of all cargo movement in India. We want to raise the share of waterways in overall cargo movements to 15 per cent,” the Minister said.
