Govt plans huge investment in port sector

New Delhi: The government plans to invest Rs 55,804 crore in the port sector of the country and would also encourage investment from the private sector.

The government has already launched the National Maritime Development Programme (NMDP) involving a total investment of Rs 1,00,339 crore. In the port sector, the total anticipated investment is Rs 55,804 crore for 276 projects.,' Shipping, Road Transport and Highways Minister TR Baalu said in a written reply to the Lok Sabha.

The investment will be on construction/upgradation of berths, deepening of channels, rail/road connectivity projects and equipment up-gradation and modernisation schemes among others, Baalu said.

The government has also finalised model for request for qualification (RFQ), request for proposal (RFQ) and model concession agreement (MCA) to attract and encourage private sector investment in the sector, he added.

The ports handled 519.31 million tonnes of traffic in 2007-08, with the Kandla port handling the highest 64.92 million tonnes against a capacity of 62.60 million tonnes followed by 64.59 million tonnes by Visakhapatnam port against a capacity to handle 61.15 million tonnes.

The ports have a handling capacity of 532.07 million tonnes.