India to build a new deep-sea port on the East Coast

Chennai: A new deep-sea port will come up on the East Coast under the public private partnership model, Union Minister of Shipping, Road Transport, and Highways T.R. Baalu said here on Saturday. “The exact location of the multi-purpose deep-sea port on the East Coast will shortly be decided by the Union Ministry of Shipping and the modalities of the project are being examined,” the Minister said, inaugurating the phase-I capital dredging works at a cost of Rs. 91 crore and construction of road works at a cost of Rs. 9 crore at Ennore Port Limited (EPL).

The Minister said two international shipping yards, one on the East Coast and the other on the West Coast, would also come up, for which Expressions of Interest (EOI) had been given to nine global players.

The Union Ministry of Shipping had prepared an action plan for all major and minor ports in the country under the National Maritime Development Policy.

Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi would soon lay the foundation stone for a Rs.1,300-crore mega container terminal project at Kattupalli, Ennore, to be implemented under the PPP model, he said. The global bidding process for short-listing and selecting the operator would commence shortly.

The 1-km-long berth container terminal, a state-of-the-art facility, would be capable of accommodating three mainline vessels and four feeder vessels. “The Netherlands Minister of Port has evinced keen interest to associate with the development schemes of the Ennore Port. Experts from Germany and the Netherlands are going to advise us on the development of the port,” he said.