Union Minister for Surface Transport and Shipping Nitin Gadkari emphasized that the cost of logistics in the country needs to be brought down drastically to compete in the international market. He said the logistics cost stands high at 17-18 percent currently.<br/>The Minister inaugurated several projects and laid the foundation stones for some, at the Visakhapatnam port yesterday. He said realising the need to bring down the logistics cost, the Government had taken up the Sagarmala project to improve the connectivity of the ports with the hinterland and also to link the ports. These measures will have the desired effect and Visakhapatnam port would also stand to gain a great deal.<br/>The Union Minister inaugurated the Visakhaptnam Container Terminal Private Limited's (VCTPL) container freight station built at a cost of Rs 104 crore and then the port's 10-MW solar power project. He inaugurated the EQ-10 and WQ-6 berths in the port and visited the WQ-7 and other berths under construction at a cost of Rs 243 crore. He also laid the foundation stone for EQ-2 and EQ-5 berths taken up at an estimated cost of Rs 181 crore.<br/>Gadkari said these projects would vastly improve the functioning of the Visakhapatnam port which has a great future ahead of it on the east coast.