(MENAFN- Live Mint) The major Indian ports of Paradip and Vishakhapatnam will be connected to the Chennai-Vladivostok maritime corridor to increase efficiency in oil and gas supply, said union ports, shipping and waterways minister Sarabananda Sonowal.

Speaking at the Sagarmanthan conclave on Monday in New Delhi to discuss global maritime affairs, Sonowal said the Vishakhapatnam and Paradip ports would be brought into the fray to strengthen the India-Russia trade in crude oil and natural gas.

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"Trade on the Vladivostok-Chennai corridor has started, ships have started coming in. All our ports in the Bay of Bengal such as Vizag and Paradip have been connected to this trade route," said Sonowal.

The Chennai-Vladivostok route connects India's south eastern court to Russia's far east, and is a strategic alternative to the more commonly-used Red Sea route, which is currently unstable due to the Israel-Palestine conflict.

Cementing terms

He said his ministry was working on cementing the terms set by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in government talks with Greece, which holds a significant portion of global maritime activity.

"By tonnage, Greece has the top of the ship-owning capicity," Sonowal told reporters at Sagarmanthan, a global summit organised by the ministry along with the Observer Research Foundation.

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The addition of more ports in the India-Russia corridor comes as the government focuses on the India-Middle East-Europe (IMEC) Economic Corridor and the International North South Transport Corridor (INSTC).

The government is also focusing on modernising ports to facilitate exports, Sonowal said, adding that construction on India's largest port, in Vadhawan, has begun. It will have a cargo handling capacity of 300 million metric tonnes per annum (MMTPA), he said.

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