The Gujarat government has stated that it will develop a greenfield port at Nargol in south Gujarat under the public private partnership (PPP) model.
Global bids for private partners will be invited for construction of the multi-cargo greenfield port at Nargol in the Valsad district that will have initial handling capacity of 40-million tonnes per annum.
Located about 140 km north of Mumbai and 120 km south of Surat, Nargol port will be developed as a multi-functional port to handle solid, liquid, and container cargo. The initial investment is estimated to be ₹3,800 crore in the first phase. Three berths will be developed in the first phase to handle containers and other bulk cargo.
Chief Minister Vijay Rupani has approved the proposal for development of a greenfield port at Nargol through PPP mode with an extended Build-own-operate-transfer (BOOT) period of 50 years instead of 30 years usually offered for any greenfield port development, a statement said. The BOOT period has been extended to give an assurance of better Return on Investment to the developer considering the long gestation period of port projects.
The interested developers also get the flexibility to quote a discounted waterfront royalty rate in addition to the prevailing system of quoting premium on the base rates. Also, they will get the flexibility to expand the port project after completion of the first phase.
A greenfield port in South Gujarat makes a promising bet for EXIM trade requirements for the hinterland in the States of Gujarat, Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh, a government statement said.
The port is strategically located with proximity to the Dedicated Freight Corridor (DFC) and the Delhi Mumbai Industrial Corridor (DMIC), and the government expects sizable traffic of containers, dry bulk and liquid bulk cargo for the port.
Vapi and Pardi are the two major industrialised centres in Valsad district having concentration of chemical, textile, sugar and processing industries that is expected to fuel the volumes for the proposed port.