Two new major ports to come up

The Ministry of Shipping is planning to establish two more major ports in the country. Of the two, one will come on the east coast, possibly in Andhra Pradesh, and the other on the west coast. They are expected to attract an investment of around Rs 2,000 crore. The country has 11 major ports, under the ministry.

Earlier, Union Minister of Shipping G K Vasan said the government had requested all coastal states in the country to explore the possibility of setting up a new major port or a new ship-building yard or a composite port-cum-ship-building yard in their respective areas and give a comprehensive proposal to the ministry of shipping. Vasan stated proposals in this regard were received from the governments of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Gujarat. Technical committees have been constituted to identify suitable locations proposed by the governments of Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka, said the minister.

A senior official of the ministry said Andhra Pradesh had proposed three sites, including Nellore, Visakhapatnam and Vijayawada. Another proposed site was on the west coast. Once completed, the new ports would have a capacity of 10 million tonnes. Earlier, the minister said the government was planning to take up expansion of major ports in the country on Public Private Partnership mode.

Out of the 23 Public Private Partnership (PPP) projects, having an investment of Rs 16,743.92 crore and capacity of 231.63 mtpa identified for award in the year 2011-12, three projects with estimated cost of Rs 7977.58 crore have been awarded.