New Delhi, Aug 4 (PTI) The government has initiated multiple steps to reduce high logistics cost, including strengthening inland waterways, Shipping Minister Mansukh Mandaviya said on Tuesday, as he urged private players to join hands to propel India's growth.

Mandaviya, who was addressing a virtual event 'Creating Multimodal Transport Network Using Big Data' organised by PHDCCI, also expressed concern over the high logistics cost in the country, which was 30 per cent more than that in developed nations.

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"The government of India has taken a large number of steps to reduce logistics cost in the country in order to fuel growth. These include making a network of inland waterways to transport cargo in a cost-effective manner. We have made 1,400 km of waterways operational," Mandaviya said.

The minister said the aim of creating a network of waterways is to reduce logistics costs, boost exports and make the country self-reliant, as per Prime Minister Narendra Modi's 'Atmanirbhar Bharat' initiative.

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"It is time that private players join hands with government in PPP (public private partnership) projects including ports to fuel economic growth," the minister said.

He urged private sector companies to come forward for initiatives like indigenous building of cranes for ports which so far were being imported at an annual cost of about Rs 10,000 crore.

He said the shipping ministry has taken initiatives like introducing the 'PCSIx' platform to reduce logistics costs.

Port community system 'PCS1x' is a cloud-based technology that offers services like notification, work-flow and track and trace and it is estimated that this feature alone will reduce up to two days in the life of a transaction.

Mandaviya further said inter-ministerial consultations were on to boost multimodal transport in the country.

Enhanced focus on waterways has resulted in higher cargo movement on inland waterways as well as the Indo-Bangladesh protocol route which has enabled faster delivery of cargo to north eastern states, including Tripura, he added.

The minister said only about 67 of the country's 200 ports are functional at present and a number of steps have been initiated to develop all the ports.

He also termed 'yoga, ayurveda, spirituality and khadi' as India's strength.

Mandaviya also stressed on the need for enhancing Indian flag vessels to promote the port and shipping sector. PTI NAM NAM ABM ABM 08042017 NNNNt happen with all coaches. And we believe in him.”

RECORD-BREAKING RAMOS

Ramos was among the leaders when Ronaldo was in the squad, and his role only increased in the last couple of seasons.

He contributed with his experience on defense and showed his scoring ability in attack, becoming the defender with most goals in the history of the league.

He scored 10 goals this season, with half of them coming after the pandemic break. He took over from Ronaldo as the team's main penalty taker and converted some decisive ones in recent matches, including in consecutive 1-0 wins against Getafe and Athletic Bilbao.

BENZEMA'S GOALS

Ramos is Madrid's second-best scorer this season behind Karim Benzema, who has 21 league goals and still has a chance of surpassing Barcelona's Lionel Messi for the league's golden boot award. Messi, who scored Barcelona's goal on Thursday, has 23 entering the final round.

Benzema, who scored twice against Villarreal, also finished with 21 league goals last season. The season before, with Ronaldo still as his teammate, he had five league goals.

The 32-year-old Benzema had also scored in each of the team's previous two matches.

SAFE COURTOIS

Goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois put to rest any doubts that lingered about him after an up-and-down first season with Madrid. He was solid all year and is in position to dethrone Jan Oblak as the goalkeeper with the fewest goals conceded in the league. The

Atlético Madrid goalkeeper had the best mark the last four seasons.

One of Courtois' great saves came at the end of Thursday's match to keep Villarreal from equalizing.

FORGOTTEN BALE AND RODRÍGUEZ

Gareth Bale and James Rodríguez were relegated to almost non-existent roles during the final stretch of the season. Bale didn't play in the last six matches, while Rodríguez didn't get any minutes in the last seven games.

Despite Zidane's constant talk about how he “counts on everyone” in the squad, few expect the duo to remain at the club going into next season. (AP)

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)