Govt okays four infra projects

The government today cleared four infrastructure projects, which will see investments worth Rs 4,263.67 crore.

Of these, the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) has cleared the port and regassification facilities for liquefied natural gas (JNG) at Cochin Port. The facility is expected to handle LNG up to 2.5 million metric tonnes per annum (MMTPA), which can be expanded up to 5 MMTPA.

The CCEA also approved a joint venture company to be set up by National Aviation Company of India Ltd for ground and cargo handling activities. These will be for Bangalore and Hyderabad airports and are expected to see investments worth at least Rs 504 crore. “It will be a 50:50 joint venture,” said Home Minister P Chidambaram.

The CCEA also approved development of a container terminal on a Build-operate-transfer basis, for a period of 30 years. The terminal will have a capacity of 600,000 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs).

The CCEA also approved a coal terminal at Mormugao port in Goa, to be built at a cost of Rs 252.44 crore. The project is expected to be completed within 36 months of the date of awarding the contract and enable Mormugao port to handle an additional four million tonnes of coal.

In addition, the Cabinet today gave its approval for setting up three Petroleum, Chemicals and Petrochemicals Investment Regions at three locations — Haldia in West Bengal, Dahej in Gujarat and Visakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh.