Jawaharlal Nehru port Trust and Haldia Port Trust would be corporatised after that, he said, adding corporatisation would increase managerial efficiency besides allowing flexibility in introducing new technologies and infusion of private capital.

Singh said the government would also amend the Major Port Trusts Act to enable the 11 ports to establish joint ventures with minor ports, foreign ports or other companies.On the North-South, East-West corridor and Golden Quadrilateral linking four metros, he said a dedicated Central Road Fund would be created for funding the Rs 54,000-crore project.

The cess levied on petrol and diesel would be routed to the fund, he said, adding approximately Rs 2500 crore would accrue due to the cess. Referring to the recent port strike, Singh said he had taken up the contentious issues of retaining periodicity of wage revision at five years and awarding house rent allowance retrospectively with Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee.

The Cabinet had taken a decision last April to revise wages for all government departments and public sector units only once in ten years and maintaining status quo in respect of port workers would have far-reaching repercussions on all sectors, he said.

Singh said the National Higways Authority of India would be give more autonomy to speed up investment decisions, which are hampered by delays in going to Public Investment Board (PIB).

He said the Ninth Five Year Plan (1997-2002) had targetted expanding the capacity of Indian ports to 424 million tonnes by the terminal year, adding a capacity expansion of 375 million tonnes could be definitely achieved.