Govt plans to set up five new major ports

Maritime summit to see investment worth Rs 82,900 cr

The government is planning to develop five new major ports to improve trade and transport along the 7,500-km  coastline, Union shipping minister Nitin Gadkari said on Wednesday.

India currently has 12 major ports and three more are being developed, one each in Maharashtra, West Bengal and Tamil Nadu. The total cost of the three upcoming ports is about Rs 25,000 crore.

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"We will give more details about the five planned ports over the next three days," said Gadkari.

He was speaking in here ahead of the three-day Maritime India Summit 2016, starting on Thursday.

The event is expected to see signing of deals worth Rs 82,900 crore. It will comprise 86 memoranda of understanding (MoUs) worth Rs 68,700 crore and 35 concession orders worth Rs 5,900 crore. About 3,000 delegates are expected at the event which will also have 12 Cabinet ministers, along with chief ministers of Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat and Goa.

At the inauguration, Prime Minister Narendra Modi is likely to lay focus on the ambitious Sagarmala project of the government. The Sagarmala expects to see investment worth Rs 12 lakh crore, creating around 10 million jobs.

Meanwhile, the shipping ministry has signed an MoU with South Korea for cooperation in port-related matters. South Korea is also the partner for the maritime event starting on Thursday.