Plans afoot for five more minor ports

The Tamil Nadu government is planning to develop five minor ports in the state, which will have a combined cargo handling capacity of 150 million tonne. These ports will be developed under public-private partnership (PPP).

According to the state government’s Vision 2023 document, which was released by chief minister J Jayalalithaa recently, the total investment expected to flow into the state for infrastructure development is around Rs 15 lakh crore, while the energy sector will take away the major chunk of around Rs 4.50 lakh crore. The transport sector is second on the top of the table with Rs 3.70 lakh crore, of which ports will attract a huge sum.

As per the document, the state is planning to develop five minor ports with a cumulative capacity to handle 150 million tonne of cargo every year. Development of these ports will cost around Rs 15,000 crore.

It may be noted that during the Budget speech 2012-13, state finance minister said that the government was committed to developing minor ports along the east coast.

The Kattupalli Port, developed by Larsen & Toubro, is expected to promote the growth of the ship-building industry and also facilitate the import of liquified natural gas. Sanction has already been accorded for developing the Nagapattinam Port at a cost of Rs 380 crore through Public Private Partnership (PPP).

Also, the work related to the development of the Cuddalore Port will commence shortly. With similar initiatives, the government will position the state as a leader in port development and ship-building.

At present, there are seven government-owned and 17 captive ports in the state. According to the Tamil Nadu Maritime Board, 1.6 million tonne of cargo was handled by these ports in 2010-11, as compared with 1.17 million tonne a year ago.