Mumbai to witness the next largest port with an investment of Rs 6000 crores

Aadhira Anandh | The Dollar Business

Country’s 13th largest port with an investment of 6000 crores is soon to see its place in Dahanu, Mumbai, on a fully reclaimed land and the project is expected to be completed over the next 3 years. The proposed port is situated 4.5 nautical miles off the Dahanu Cost, in the northern Maharashtra’s Palghar district, which is about 150 Km from Mumbai. This is the first time the centre has tied up with the State government by making it an equity partner to ensure faster completion of the port. The port will have a capacity to handle 60-100 million tonnes of cargo per annum, which will be fully build on a reclaimed land spread over 2,500 acres. “The new port is planned in such a way the economy is demanding. We are building ports with a 20 meter draft which would help bigger container ships to dock. As the size of the ships are increasing and the whole scenario of the shipping industry seeing a change, we can say that this port would be able to accustom to the changes that is happening,” said Neeraj Bansal, Chairman of JNPT. Union Shipping Secretary Rajive Kumar said that it would be largest container port with 76% stake from the Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust and the rest will be held by the Maharashtra Maritime Board (MMB). The project is proposed to be executed on public-private partnership model. Both the parties have signed an agreement and Kumar assured that project would be a reality in three years. “The centre and the State government have come up with this plan of carrying forward a private-public partnership, where we can ensure the efficiency, as both of them are planning towards a better objective. It’s been happening in other places like West Bengal. And the good news is that the State government is very much supportive of the same. In short we can say that it’s a very welcoming change,” added Bansal. However Union Shipping Minister Nitin Gadkari emphasized on the fact that no land will be acquired from people or have them displaced because of the formation of the new port. He also ruled out cutting of trees saying that the port is coming up on the reclaimed land. Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said that since 1996, they were planning for a new port. But there were some litigation issues that were holding up the formation of the port for last two decades. But now, the MMB has come up with a way of settling the issue and set up the venture. Gadkari also added that the setting up of new port would help the power plants in Maharashtra get coals faster than usual. Maharashtra has a long coast line of 720 Kms. But they have only two major ports, one being the JNPT and the other being the Mumbai Port. Though there are lot of other private ports, the plans for the new port will help the marine line on a larger front.  

June 08, 2015 | 06:18 pm IST.