28 fishing harbours to be built in 8 States under Sagarmala.

The Centre has taken up the development of 28 fishing harbours under the Sagarmala project, according to Union Shipping Minister Nitin Gadkari.

Laying the foundation stone for the construction of Kulai Fishing Harbour in Mangaluru, through videoconference on Tuesday, he said that the fishing harbours were being built by the Centre under the Sagarmala project with an investment of Rs. 4,142 crore.

8 States

Of them, four harbours will come up in Karnataka, five in Tamil Nadu, six in Maharashtra, three in Gujarat, two in Odisha, five in Andhra Pradesh, two in Kerala, and one in Goa.

The Kulai Fishing Harbour project in Mangaluru will be completed in May 2022, he said.

The Kulai harbour will provide direct employment to 2,300 fishermen and generate 1,700 onshore employment opportunities. Apart from this, Kulai harbour will provide indirect employment to 4,500 other people.

New Mangalore Port Trust (NMPT) is the implementing agency for the Kulai Fishing Harbour project, he said.

Krishna Babu, NMPT Chairman, said coastal community development is one of the important components of Sagarmala project. Kulai harbour project is being taken up under that component. Apart from fishing harbour development, Sagarmala also gives importance for the skill development of local youths in the community.

Kailash Agarwal, Joint Secretary, Union Ministry of Shipping (Sagarmala project), who addressed the gathering through video-conference, said the ministry had already released the first instalment of Rs. 49 crore for the project.

Cost-sharing

The project will come up at a cost of Rs. 196 crore. Of this, the Centre will spend 50 per cent of the project cost under the Sagarmala project. NMPT will contribute 45 per cent and the Karnataka government 5 per cent of the project cost.

Kulai Fishing Harbour can handle 27100 tonnes of fish valued at Rs. 172.5 crore a year, he added.

HBL