Cabinet approves Rs 76,220 crore Vadhavan port

economictimes.indiatimes.com:

Union Cabinet on Wednesday approved India’s 13th Major Port worth Rs 76,220 crores at Vadhavan in Maharashtra. The crucial project got a nod during the first meeting of the Union Cabinet after ministers were assigned portfolios last week.

Speaking to ET, Union Minister for Ports, Shipping and Waterways, Sarbananda Sonowal said, “This is the first major infrastructure project of the third term of Prime Minister Narendra Modi as it ends the hiatus of major port development of more than two decades since then PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee inaugurated Kamarajar port at Ennore in 2001.”

Major Ports are those which are governed by the centre. They comprise roughly 61% of India’s entire cargo 2604.99 million tonne per annum (MTPA) handling capacity. The remaining is with non-major ports that are under the administrative control of state governments.

The Vadhavan project will create additional capacity of 298 MTPA, including 23.2 million TEUs (Twenty Foot Equivalent Units) of container handling capacity. One TEU is roughly equal to the volume of a standard 20 foot container which is popularly used to move cargo on sea routes. Mega Vessels with 24,000 TEU capacity shall be efficiently handled by the Port, due to its deep draft of 20 Meters.

Source: Official data


An official statement said this Public Private Partnership (PPP) model project will be completed in two