Centre to soon float tenders for consultant to develop Colachel port.

The Shipping Ministry will issue tenders by March for the appointment of a consultant for the proposed transhipment port of Colachel.

Union Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari said Colachel in Tamil Nadu, Sagar in West Bengal and Wadhawan at Dahanu in Maharashtra will be the three new greenfield ports. “We have already initiated investments worth ₹80,000 crore for mechanisation, modernisation and computerisation of ports under the Sagarmala project,' he said at a session on ports and shipping at the Make in India event here on Wednesday. Colachel is being promoted as a transhipment hub because of a deep draught of 18.5 metres, said N Muruganandam, MD of Indian Ports Association.

HBL