business : A new port is going to be built on the west coast of India. On Wednesday, the Union Cabinet approved a major port at Vadhvan near Dahanu in Maharashtra. Jawaharlal Nehru Port Authority (JNPA) Chairman Unmesh Sharad Wagh said on Thursday that upon completion, it will be a major port.
Dargah world The port will be among the top ten container ports in the world. He said the port will also help reduce traffic congestion in Mumbai and neighbouring Thane, as most of the cargo traffic coming from the north will move to this new port which will be located north of the country’s financial capital, instead of trucks having to travel from the Mumbai Metropolitan Region to JNPA’s existing port south of the city. The port is to be developed by Wadhawan Port Project Ltd, a special purpose vehicle, in which JNPA will have a 74 per cent stake and Maharashtra Maritime Board will have a 26 per cent stake.
Gee. The estimated total project cost for the Vadhavan port is Rs 76,220 crore. The port infrastructure includes nine container terminals, each of 1,000 metres in length, four multi-purpose berths, four cargo berths, one Ro-Ro (roll-on roll-off) berth, one coastal cargo berth and one coast guard berth. About 1,448 hectares of offshore area is to be reclaimed for the project and 10.14 km long breakwaters, container/cargo storage areas will be constructed. According to Wagh, today about 65 per cent of the total container traffic in the country is through two ports – Mundra and JNPA – and a new port on the west coast was needed as both the ports were already operating at high capacity. “Right now, JNPA is operating at 80 per cent of its capacity. Our capacity is currently 7.7 million TEUs and we are operating at 6.5 million TEUs. Mundra is also operating at 80 per cent of its capacity. 70 per cent capacity in the port sector would be considered 100 per cent. So, we are already operating beyond our capacity. We are adding 2.4 million TEUs next year. Mundra will also add some capacity in the next 10 years. But, even with this additional capacity, we will be full in 2029,” Wagh said.
This all-weather port at Vadhavan will increase the national container handling capacity to 23.2 million TEUs (twenty-foot equivalent unit) and facilitate the calling of mega-sized container ships capable of carrying 24,000 TEUs. According to Wagh, the port will be constructed in two phases, with the first phase adding 10 million TEUs of capacity by 2029. The port has faced a lot of opposition, especially from local fishermen and villagers who feared their livelihoods would be affected. However, Wagh claimed that many of those issues are being addressed. For instance, he claimed that there will be no hindrance to fishing except in a 30 square kilometre area and fishermen working in that area will be adequately compensated. He also mentioned that since it was an offshore project, there was no need for land acquisition except for road and rail connectivity and hence there would be no displacement. Importantly, Wagh pointed out that the project would provide direct employment to over 10 lakh people and
Indirect Indirect employment opportunities will be ten times more. “About 90 per cent of the blue collar jobs will be provided to the people of Palghar district only,” he said. More than 50,000 youth will be provided necessary training and they have signed agreements with various institutes available there.
