Indian Authorities Unveil Six New Port Locations
THE Indian government has designated six locations across the country where it plans to construct ports as part of the ambitious Sagarmala programme to jumpstart port-led industrial growth.
According to MANA, In West Bengal, authorities have approved the establishment of a major port at Sagar Island with the detailed project report being ironed out. However, the project is being reviewed as the local government there has announced plans to build a new port at Tajpur.
In the state of Odisha, Paradip Outer Harbour is the designated site for the new port and a detailed project report is in the works.
The state of Tamil Nadu will see a new port built at Sirkhazi and a techno-economic feasibility report is being prepared.
Also in Tamil Nadu, authorities have received in-principle approval to construct a port at Enayam with a detailed project report being worked on.
In Karnataka, a techno-economic feasibility report is in the process of being created for a port to be situated at Belikeri. In Maharashtra state, a detailed project report for the port site at Vadhavan is being prepared.
Separately, the government intends to boost coastal shipping and inland navigation by merging an existing coastal berth scheme into the Sagarmala project.
The central government has already allocated Rs1.52bn ($22.8m) in funding for 16 approved projects under the scheme.
The central government plans to boost port handling capacities to 1,897m tonnes per annum by the end of its 2016-2017 fiscal year from 1,716m tonnes a year in the 2015-2016 fiscal year.
Cargo volumes are expected to hit 1,133m tonnes at the end of the 2016-2017 fiscal year compared with 1,072m tonnes in the 2015-2016 fiscal year.