Chennai: The Central government is working on different new technologies, including fuel, for maritime transport to cut costs, said Union Shipping and Water Resources Minister Nitin Gadkari here on Monday.
"We are working with lot of new technologies nowadays. We are planning to use methanol as a fuel for all our maritime transport, which is highly cost effective and less polluting in comparison to diesel," he said after laying the foundation stone for the National Technology Centre for Ports, Waterways and Coasts (NTCPWC), at Indian Institute of Technology-Madras (IITM).
The NTCPWC will work towards modernising India's ports and fast track waterways, said Gadkari.
The Centre will be a strategic and innovation-oriented initiative tasked with bringing cutting edge technology to India's ports, waterways and maritime sector, he said, adding that the Central government is extending a financial support of around Rs 70 crore initially and later the centre will become self-sustaining.