High-level panel approves Rs 17,630 crore port projects

The government today said a high-level committee has examined Rs 17,630 crore projects in the port sector, which are proposed to be awarded this fiscal under the public private partnership (PPP) mode.

 

"The Public Private Partnership Appraisal Committee has appraised five proposals in the Port Sector. These projects will now be recommended for grant of final approval by the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs. The proposed projects are to create an additional capacity of 150 MTPA with an investment of Rs 17,630 crore," an official statement said.

 

The statement said Shipping Ministry will submit a note to the Cabinet for final nod to projects.

 

These include developments of the fourth Container Terminal at Jawaharlal Nehru Port, Container Terminal at Ennore Port, multipurpose Cargo at Mumbai Port, Mega Container Terminal at Kandla Port and Container Terminal at Diamond Harbour at Kolkata Port.

 

"These projects are proposed to be awarded in the current financial year by various Major Ports for implementation under Public Private Partnership (PPP) mode. The proposed projects are to create an additional capacity of 150 million tonne per annum with an investment of about Rs 17,630 crore," it said.

 

This year, the Ministry of Shipping has so far conveyed approval for 16 projects against a target of 30 and the Major Ports have already awarded these projects.

 

These already awarded projects include six under PPP and 10 under non-PPP mode and they are expected to add a capacity of 89 MMTPA with an investment of about Rs 4,200 crore.

 

The capacity of the major ports stood at 747.51 MT at the end of the last fiscal.

 

India at present has 12 major ports — Kolkata-Halida, Paradip, Visakhapatnam, Ennore, Chennai, VO Chidambaranar (formerly Tuticorin), Cochin, New Mangalore, Mormugao, Mumbai, Jawaharlal Nehru and Kandla.