Private players to get 17 ports for development - 09 Dec 2009 - Financial Express

Source : http://www.financialexpress.com/news/Private-players-to-get-17-ports-for-development/551584/

New Delhi: The government targets to allot 17 port development projects to private players under its ambitious National Maritime Development Programme, which envisages increasing the capacity of the major ports by 410 million tonne per annum, with an investment of Rs 62,231 crore.

The 17 projects would increase the cargo handling capacity of 12 major ports by 183.5 million tonne per annum at an investment of Rs 15,446.3 crore. However, only two projects were awarded till November-end. “Many projects are in the process of being awarded and we are hopeful to meet this year’s target. For the overall programme, we are sure to award the listed projects by March 31, 2012. The same could be completed in the next 3-4 years,” a senior official in the shipping ministry told FE.

Visakhapatnam Port accounts for the maximum number of projects at five, followed by Kokata Port, Kandla Port and Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust (JNPT), each having two capacity addition projects. The biggest project is construction of fourth container terminal at JNPT with an investment of Rs 6,700 crore to add 57.6 MTPA to the existing capacity of the port, an internal note of the ministry stated.

The ministry has also a planned manufacturing of a mega container terminal at Chennai, which would increase the port’s capacity by 48 MTPA with an investment of Rs 3,686 crore. Kandla Port would receive berthing and allied facilities, which are to be developed with Rs 1,136.63 crore.

Other key projects are development of standalone container handling facility with a 330-metre quay north of Nhava Sheva International Container Terminal of JNPT, setting up of single point mooring and allied facilities off Veera in Gulf of Kutch at Kandla Port, construction of second cargo berth at Tuticorin and a multi-purpose berth at Paradip Port.

NMDP, which is a public private partnership project, was launched in 2005 with a view to award 276 projects by March 2012 for expanding the capacity of major ports from around 400 million tonne in 2004-05. The ministry projects requirement of port capacity of 918 MTs by 2013-14. At present, the major ports handle just over 570 MTs of cargo. Earlier this year, the government dropped 22 projects from the programme, trimming its total size to 254 projects.

Since 2005, the government has awarded 116 projects. Out of these, 46 projects have been completed at an investment of more than Rs 5,000 crore. Another 15 projects are approved...