Minister of Steel and Mines,Narendra Singh Tomar co-chaired a session at the Maritime India Summit, 2016 and visited stalls put up by various exhibitors, specially the displays by public sector giants like Steel Authority of India Limited. Following are details of his visit and session he chaired.

“Steel Industry and shipping Industry are complimentary to each other”Minister of Steel and Mines

Minister of Steel and Mines, Shri Singh Tomar Co-Chaired a session on Ship Building, Ship Breaking and Ship Repair at the Maritime India Summit, 2016 held in Mumbai.

Speaking on the occasion,Tomar said, “Shipping industry is an important component of Indian economy. The Make in India program announced by Prime Minister has put the manufacturing sector including shipping industry in focus and has accelerated progress in this sector.” He added that the Shipping and highways ministry was put in charge of an able and visionary leader, Nitin Gadkari.

Lauding the vision and efforts of the Shipping Ministry under the leadership of Shri Gadkari he said, “He has initiated long-term plans for the shipping industry and development of waterways. The conference is the culmination of these efforts.”Tomar said that waterways are important as these are cost effective, safe, faster, Environment friendly etc.

Speaking about the symbiotic relationship between shipping and steel sector he said that Steel Industry and shipping Industry are complimentary to each other. Steel will be an important contributor to Indian shipping industry’s growth. He further commented that transport cost is an important component of cost of manufacturing and it has direct impact on the profit of the companies. Waterways utilization needs to be enhanced and revamped.
Citing examples from other countries Shri Tomar said, “Countries like Korea, Japan & China understood the importance of linkage of steel Industry and shipping industry that has resulted in growth of both industries in these countries. A steel plant needs to transport raw material from distant places as well as transportation of finished goods to different parts of country. Our plants at Durgapur, Burnpur and Rourkela will benefit by development of inland waterways.”

Tomar expressed confidence that the discussion at the conference will come out with suitable and appropriate recommendations which will be beneficial to the overall growth of the nation.

Tomar visited the stall of public sector giant Steel Authority of India Limited and appreciated its contribution to the nation’s progress.