Government is eyeing annual savings of Rs 25,000 crore on logistics costs by 2025 by promoting coastal shipping under its ambitious Sagarmala project. Sagarmala aims at promoting port-led development by harnessing the country's 7,500-km long coastline, 14,500-km of potentially navigable waterways and strategic location on key international maritime trade routes.
"Across all commodities, coastal shipping volumes could grow to 5-6 times of current levels to about 400-480 mt by 2025. This would save logistics costs of about Rs 25,000 crore per annum," a blueprint on Sagarmala unveiled by the government said. Coastal shipping volume at present is about 80 mt. Logistic costs account for a large part of the country's non-services GDP compared to benchmarks of 8-10 per cent for developed nations, it said.