Union Minister for Ports, Shipping and Waterways and Ayush Shri Sarbananda Sonowal inaugurated The National Logistics Portal (marine) in New Delhi today.

The National Logistic Portal (marine) (NLP) is a project of national importance, as envisaged by the Ministry of Ports Shipping Waterways and the Ministry of Commerce & Industry.

It is a one-stop platform aimed at connecting all the stakeholders of the logistics community using IT, to improve efficiency and transparency by reducing costs and time delays and achieving easier, faster, and more competitive offerings of services, to promote the growth of the logistics sector and thereby improve trade.

NLP will be a single window for all trade processes of the logistics sector spread across the country covering all modes of transport in the waterways, roadways, and airways along with an E-marketplace to provide a seamless end-to-end logistic service coverage.

NLP Is a one stop marketplace where all logistic stakeholders are integrated for easier, speedier & competitive services thereby promoting trade and growth.

Single Platform to perform all core activities of the Importer / Exporter / Customs Broker / Freight Forwarder

End-to-end functionality to perform self-clearance digitally Online transaction with custodians

Providing a level playing field to relevant stakeholders (large & small) thus increasing the competition

Complete domestic tracking of the shipment with notifications on each stage

Real time information of the activities which are generally not in reach of Importer / Exporter / Customs Broker

Enhanced transparency in Government to Business relations and Ease of doing Business

Document Management System to store all the important documents securely on Cloud Storage

Reduced costs and timeframes for execution of trade and logistics operations

Paper-less transaction, for all the stakeholders along with BI reporting and data analytics

The implementation of NLP had been initiated in July 2021 with the development of NLP Marine as a first phase. It is an “open platform” that allows the coexistence of multiple service providers to provide EXIM-related services independently or by combining different connectivity options.

It has the capability to integrate with various Port Operating Systems/ Terminal Operating Systems, ICEGATE, Other regulatory agencies, and stakeholder(s) systems in the ecosystem.

It aims to reduce regulatory complexities and enhance the ease of doing business by moving towards user-friendly paperless trade.

This will be accomplished by utilizing the prowess of IT infrastructure to develop a single window, centralizing all necessary documentation, compliance certifications, and formal procedures necessary for the EXIM trade.

The activities of NLP Marine are categorized into four distinct verticals viz. i. Carrier, ii. Cargo, iii. Banking and Finance and iv. Regulatory Bodies and Participating Government Agencies (PGAs).

This will enrich the user experience through end-to-end tracking of the shipment with notifications at each stage, seamless exchange of documents, and the ability to securely transact with transparency and speed.

The NLP Marine experience is enhanced further with the Latch On feature, which facilitates the trade in providing the required features that are not directly embedded into NLP Marine, by linking through systems developed by other agencies seamlessly without duplication of efforts.

It is envisaged that many standalone applications, developed by multiple vendors, users, and other stakeholders will integrate with NLP Marine through appropriate curation. It also enables digital transactions for payments required for the clearance processes such as Port charges, CFS charges, shipping line charges, transportation charges, etc.

Addressing the gathering Shri Sarbananda Sonowal said, “The Prime Minister on 15th August 2021 announced the PM Gati Shakti National Master Plan to provide systematic, multi modal connectivity to various economic zones for seamless movement of people, goods & services resulting in efficient conduct of logistics and economic activities. To fulfil this mission Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways has developed the NLP (marine) is an “open platform” that allows the coexistence of multiple service providers to provide EXIM-related services independently or by combining different connectivity options.”

India became a member of the International Maritime Organization (IMO) in 1959, which is the global standard setting authority for the safety, security and environmental performance of shipping and ensures that such standards are fair and effective and are universally adopted and implemented.

India has been an active participant at the IMO. In fact, participation of India in the functioning of IMO has helped India to voice its developmental concerns to the international maritime community.

India has been a member of the IMO Council and has got re-elected as Member of the IMO Council under Category ‘B’, representing nations with the largest interest in international seaborne trade, for biennial 2018-19 by securing second highest number of votes during the IMO Council election held on December 2, 2017.

IMO adopts and implements various treaties in the form of conventions/protocols. From time to time, keeping in mind our national interests and the international standards evolved by IMO through its treaties, India has been becoming a party to the treaties adopted by IMO.

As on date IMO has adopted 67 treaties, which are open for countries to become parties. Out of these 67 treaties, India is a party to 33 treaties (conventions/protocols), which have been suitably incorporated into the Indian domestic legislation i.e. the Merchant Shipping Act, 1958.

There are 12 major ports and 200 non-major ports (minor ports) in the country. While the Major Ports are under the administrative control of Ministry of Shipping, the non-major ports are under the jurisdiction of respective State Maritime Boards/ State Government.

All the 12 Major ports are functional. Out of the 200 non-major ports, around 65 ports are handling cargo and the others are “Port Limits” where no cargo is handled and these are used by fishing vessels and by small ferries to carry passengers across the creeks etc

The Tariff Authority for Major Ports (TAMP) was created in 1997. The regulatory jurisdiction of the Authority extends to all major port trusts and private terminals operating therein.

Role, Functions and Organizational Structure

The Authority is statutorily mandated to frame the Scale of Rates and Statement of Conditions for the services rendered by the Major Port Trusts and Private Terminals thereat as well as charges for use of port properties.

The Authority consists of a Chairman and two Members. The Chairman is of the rank of the Secretary to the Government of India, one Member from amongst economists and one Member with experience in finance. TAMP is functioning with Member (Finance) and Member (Economics) at present.

The Headquarter of Tariff Authority for Major Ports is located at Mumbai.

The sanctioned strength of officers and staff of the Authority is 36. As against that, the existing staff strength as on 01/04/2019 is 30 comprising of 08 Group A posts, 08 Group B posts, 09 Group C posts and 05 Group D post

Meetings of the Authority

The procedure to be followed in processing of tariff cases and conducting the meetings of this Authority is regulated by the Tariff Authority for Major Ports (Transaction of Business) Regulations, 1998.

Maritime sector in India has been the backbone of the country’s trade and has grown manifold over the years. To harness India’s 7,500 km long coastline, 14,500 km of potentially navigable waterways and strategic location on key international maritime trade routes, the Government of India has embarked on the ambitious Sagarmala Program which aims to promote port-led development in the country.

The concept of Sagarmala was approved by the Union Cabinet on 25th March 2015. As part of the program, a National Perspective Plan (NPP) for the comprehensive development of India’s coastline and maritime sector has been prepared which was released by the Hon’ble Prime Minister, on 14th April, 2016 at the Maritime India Summit 2016.

Vision of the Sagarmala Program is to reduce logistics cost for EXIM and domestic trade with minimal infrastructure investment. This includes:

Reducing cost of transporting domestic cargo through optimizing modal mix Lowering logistics cost of bulk commodities by locating future industrial capacities near the coast Improving export competitiveness by developing port proximate discrete manufacturing clusters Optimizing time/cost of EXIM container movement. Since about more than 90% of India's trade by volume is conducted via the country’s maritime route, there is a continuous need to develop India's ports and trade related infrastructure to accelerate growth in the manufacturing industry and to assist the 'Make in India' initiative. India has 12 major ports and approximately 200 non-major ports administered by Central and State Governments respectively.

As per the studies conducted under the Sagarmala Program , it is expected that by 2025, cargo traffic at Indian ports will be approximately 2500 MMTPA while the current cargo handling capacity of Indian ports is only 2400+ MMTPA. A roadmap has been prepared for increasing the Indian port capacity to 3300+ MMTPA by 2025 to cater to the growing traffic. This includes port operational efficiency improvement, capacity expansion of existing ports and new port development.

Approximately 18 percent of India’s population lives in the 72 coastal districts that comprise 12 percent of India’s mainland. Development of coastal communities through Marine sector related activities like fisheries, maritime tourism and corresponding skill development is an essential objective of the Sagarmala Program. Development of cruise tourism and lighthouse tourism are other activities which are being actively considered under Sagarmala Program.

Under Sagarmala Program, an integrated approach is being adopted for improvement in quality of life with focus on skill building and training, upgrading of technology in traditional professions, specific and time bound action plan for improving physical and social infrastructure in collaboration with the coastal states.

Despite having an extensive network of inland waterways in the form of rivers, canals, backwaters and creeks freight transportation by waterways is highly under-utilized. Waterways currently contribute around 6% to India's transportation modal mix, which is significantly less than that in developed economies and some of the developing economies as well.