The Union Shipping Minister, Mr G.K. Vasan, will launch a slew of new projects to be developed at an investment of about Rs 600 crore at Kandla port in Gujarat on Tuesday, paving the way for increased logistics facilities at the important port on the Gulf of Kutch.
He will lay the foundation stone for three new berths and a barge jetty at the port, commission a mobile harbour crane, and inaugurate the Kandla Port campus of the Indian Maritime University (IMU), Mr M.A. Bhaskarachar, Deputy Chairman, Kandla Port Trust, said on Monday.
The foundation stones will be laid for berth numbers 13, 15 and 16, to be developed within two years by RAS Infraport Pvt. Ltd, JRE Infra Pvt. Ltd and PSL Infrastructure & Ports Pvt. Ltd, respectively.
Together, the three berths will cost an estimated Rs 544 crore and have a proposed handling capacity of six million tonnes a year (mtpa).
The barge jetty of IFFCO Kisan Bazar & Logistic Ltd will also be of two mtpa capacity with the estimated cost being Rs 27 crore. The Rs 28.32-crore mobile harbour crane is of 63-tonne capacity with the handling capacity of 2.4 mtpa.
The modern deep-drafted berths are being added at Kandla port through the public-private partnership (PPP) model.
Four berths in a single line of 1.2 km will provide facilities for berthing bigger ships requiring draft of 13.5 m.
Construction of one of these berths has already started. These berths will have modern handling equipment and rail connectivity for faster evacuation of cargo. Though the fourth berths have designed capacity of eight mtpa, each can go up to four mtpa with advanced equipment if installed at an extra cost.
All kinds of cargo except liquid and containers are allowed in the concession agreement.
The Kandla port campus of the IMU will be the first such facility in Gujarat that will provide skilled manpower to the marine sector.
IMU currently has campuses at Kolkata, Mumbai, Visakhapatnam, Kochi and Chennai.
The new campus has been sponsored by Kandla Port Trust, which is headed by Mr P.D. Vaghela, Chairman.