ID :
412150
Sat, 07/16/2016 - 06:08
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Business Opportunities For Malaysian Firms In India's Interest To Develop Waterway Transportation

By Manik Mehta NEW YORK, July 16 (Bernama) -- There are business opportunities for Malaysian firms in India's interest to develop its waterway transportation of people and goods. Its Minister for Roads, Transport, Highways and Shipping, Nitin Gadkari, told Bernama it was easier and cheaper to transport materials from Mumbai to Dubai than from Mumbai to other ports within India. "India's ambitious plan to develop itself into an important shipping point for cars could get a fillip with the creation of industrial clusters. "Twenty seven industrial clusters are to be created at ports, entailing a huge volume of funds. We do not have problem raising funds in US dollars," he said. Gadkari said the Indian Government accorded the "highest priority" to infrastructural development. "We had a series of interaction with investors in the meetings organised by the Indo-American Chamber of Commerce, Business Council on International Understanding and Goldman Sachs. "These were a follow-up to the deliberations at the Maritime India Summit held recently in Mumbai, where many US firms had shown keen interest in promoting bilateral cooperation with India in the maritime sector," he said. He said the Indian government wanted to uplift the infrastructure and, in effect, bolster the economy. Gadkari said Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi was keen interest to push through the country's ambitious infrastructure development projects to support and flank the high-growth trajectory of the Indian economy. "While there was a huge outlay earmarked for maritime projects, India is keen to expand and upgrade the country’s existing road, railway and waterway network," he said. India, which already has some 96,000 km of well-developed roads and highways, has set a target of creating 200,000 km. The minister said foreign companies had also also contributed to building up India's infrastructure. Scomi Engineering Bhd, which constructed India's first monorail system in Mumbai and is keen to further tap the Indian market, is not alien to India's infrastructure sector. Scomi said it could could provide its expertise and knowhow in joining India’s efforts to build up a modern and efficiently-operating distribution hub that would facilitate shipping and transportation to sustain the growth momentum. Meanwhile, an official in the minister's delegation, said Malaysian engineering companies had "built up a reputation" in infrastructure development. "India's engineering sector is familiar with Scomi's Indian operations, including its first local manufacturing bid at the Bengal Aerotropolish Projects (BAPL) in Durgapure in West Bengal," he said. Indian sources said Scomi and three to five of its key vendor associates planned to invest huge sums in the BAPL to make rakes and logistics infrastructure for various mass rapid transport systems like monorail, buses, metro and tram services. Scomi would act as the seed technology partner and will invest a large sum in setting up its factory, a source said. A memorandum of understanding was signed between BAPL and Scomi, it said. --BERNAMA

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