The Shipping Ministry’s move to develop smart cities in each major port has revived the hopes of cash starved Kochi Port to generate revenue.
Nitin Gadkari, Shipping Minister had announced of Ministry’s plan to build one smart city each at major ports at an estimated total investment of ₹50,000 crore, as country’s 12 major ports are having an estimated 2.64 lakh acre of land in its control.
Kochi port with around 383 hectares in its possession is an ideal location to set up a smart city, C.S.Kartha, President, Cochin Chamber of Commerce and Industry said.
Of this, around 152 hectares on the southern strip of the Willingdon Island has already reclaimed, he said adding that this timely move by the Ministry would help fetch more revenue to the port.
Willingdon Island, according to him, has got lot of vacant areas for development activities especially with the shifting of core business of container terminal operations to Vallarpadam. Unlike other major ports, Kochi does not have large areas of land for development and therefore the available land needs to be utilised properly in accordance to the environmental rules and regulations, he said.
It is estimated that by 2050, about 70 per cent of the population will be living in cities and India will need about 500 new cities to accommodate the influx. He requested the Ministry to include these smart cities as special investment regions or SEZ with modified regulations and tax structures to make it attractive for foreign investment.
This is essential because much of the funding for these projects will have to come from private developers, he added.