India is the third largest steel producer in the world after China and Japan and has an installed capacity of about 131 million tonne (mt) at present. It produced 101 mt of steel in FY2017 and consumed 84 mt during the same period.

The Railways has sizeable capex plans for the five year period 2015-19 involving a capital outlay of Rs.8.56 trillion. The annual capital outlay for FY2016-18 was increased significantly to meet the five-year targets. NITI Aayog has also finalised the three year action agenda (2018-20).

The Government of India has embarked on the Sagarmala Programme with a vision to reduce logistics cost for both domestic and EXIM cargo and utilise the waterways to their potential.

Over the last few years, the Government of India has rightly refocused attention on the shipping and logistics sector, and has recognised it as a key contributor to the development of the country.

Nandan Yalgi, Managing Director, Boxco Logistics India Pvt Ltd, lauds the efforts of the Ministry of Shipping in launching port-led development projects that will eventually bring down logistics costs across the country.

The Union Budget of 2017-18 has laid a 25 per cent increase in allocations for infrastructure over last year. There has also been a renewed focus on transportation, development of port infrastructure and its automation.

AAI, being the extended arm of the government, is geared-up to address the huge traffic growth that the country is witnessing. As per the forecasts, the growth is expected to continue in the future.

We are planning to raise Rs 2.9 lakh crore from the equity market, Rs 1.06 lakh crore from private investments and Rs 2.19 lakh crore from Central Road Funds (CRF) or toll-operate-transfer (TOT) or toll road (BOT) projects.

For instance, out of the 111 identified National Waterways, 106 were conceived in 2016 alone. An assertive Nutan Guha Biswas, Chairperson, Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI) is confident that the statutory agency will continue to exceed its performance in 2018.