Shripad Y Naik, Union Minister of State for Ports, Shipping & Waterways, and Tourism, Government of India, arrived at Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust (JNPT), one of India’s premier container handling ports on Friday for a comprehensive Port visit. During his visit, the Minister closely observed the Port operations and was apprised about several infrastructural and technological advancements harnessed by the Port, enabling it to offer world-class services to the global maritime and EXIM community. Upon his arrival at the Port, Sanjay Sethi, IAS, Chairman, JNPT, and Unmesh Sharad Wagh, IRS, Deputy Chairman, JNPT, welcomed the Union Minister of State, where he was accorded a guard of honor by the CISF personnel stationed at JNPT. During his visit across the terminals at JNPT, the Minister engaged with the Port stakeholders and explored numerous tech-enabled ‘Smart Port Initiatives’ that are being undertaken to optimize terminal operations in order to further enhance the Port’s efficiency and competence. In addition, the Minister also experienced the RMQC crane simulator, used for training efficient & skilled crane operators, who are an integral and core part of the Port operations. During a meeting earlier in the day, JNPT officials briefed the Minister on Port’s future expansion plans as well as the host of initiatives undertaken by JNPT to enhance its Ease of Doing Business, including the recently launched ‘Dwarf Container Train’ service, Coastal Berth, Green Port Initiatives, multi-product SEZ, Centralized Parking Plaza, Dry Ports, Digitization Initiatives, and the progress of Vadhavan Port and other JNPT-led multimodal infrastructure projects through a presentation.