5 port projects worth over Rs 17k crore okayed

NEW DELHI: The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) has approved five port related projects involving at least Rs 17,600 crore investment to increase the capacity of the major ports by 150.74 million tonnes per annum.

Of the five projects, four are container terminals and one is a multipurpose cargo berth project in Mumbai port. The four container terminals are proposed in Kandla, Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust in Navi Mumbai, Kolkata and Ennore ports. These expansions will double the container handling capacity which is at 11.57 million TEUs. The capacity of the multipurpose cargo berth proposed for Mumbai port will be 4.5 MTPA to handle automobiles, iron and steel cargo, among others.

These five projects are at an advance stage of tendering and are likely to be awarded by March end. A government release said 11 qualified bids have come for the Ennore container terminals and seven qualified bids for the JNPT 4th container terminal.