Sarbananda Sonowal dedicates projects worth ₹216.53 crores to the nation, boosting new projects for capacity expansion at Vizag Port

The Union Minister of Ports, Shipping & Waterways, Shri Sarbananda Sonowal dedicated projects worth ₹216.53 crores to the nation, including inauguration of world class state-of-the-art Vizag International Cruise Terminal (VICT) in Vishakhapatnam today. The Minister also inaugurated Covered Storage Shed-2 in Port area, 1 World Class Truck parking terminal as well as 1 Oil refinery berth, in an attempt to boost the capacity of the Vizag Port (VPA) towards becoming a regional hub of cruise and cargo traffic in the near future. The Minister was accompanied by the Minister of State for Ports, Shipping & Waterways and Tourism, Shri Shripad Yesso Naik; Smt R K Roja, Minister of Tourism, Culture & Youth Advancement, Government of Andhra Pradesh; Smt Vidadala Rajini, Minister of Health, Family Welfare & Medical Education, Government of Andhra Pradesh; Shri Gudivada Amarnath, Minister of Industries, Investment & Commerce, Information Technology, Handloom & Textiles, Government of Andhra Pradesh; and Smt Golagani Hari Venkata Kumari, Mayor, Greater Visakhapatanam Municipal Corporation. 

Speaking on the occasion, Shri Sonowal said, “Under the visionary leadership of Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi ji, the ports of India has been developing to reach the global standard with a focus approach on modernisation, mechanisation & digitisation. Our government under the leadership of Modi ji, remains committed to make India the third largest economy in the world by 2030. Our ports led development approach is an important element to realise this vision and we remain at work to modernise, equip and enable our ports to become a vital lynchpin of development of the region. Before 2014, this stood at 821 million MT. Today, you will be happy to know that we have increased our cargo movement capacity to 1681 million MT by our 12 major ports today, thereby more than doubling our capacity in a span of just nine years. This is not all. Before 2014, it took 44 hours to unload cargo from a ship but this has come down to 26 hours now, enabling so much of possibilities for growth and trade for people and the country. This transformation in transportation could happen only under the visionary leadership of Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi ji.”

Adding further, Shri Sonowal said, “With a robust communications gateways via railways, roadways and airways, the revamped marine waterways is likely to add Visakhapatnam’s potential to become a major hub of cruise tourism and maritime trade. Under the inspired leadership of the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi ji, we are deeply committed to develop world class infrastructure to support and enable growth of cruise tourism and maritime trade. We expect that the volume of cruise ships will increase from 208 in 2023 to 500 in 2030 and upto 1,100 by 2047. The number of passengers availing cruise services is also likely to increase from 9.5 lakhs in 2030 to 45 lakhs in 2047. Similarly, economic potential is also expected to be increase from ₹712 Crores in 2016 to ₹35,500 Crores by 2041. The Maritime India Vision 2030 roadmap is estimated to create 2,00,000 new jobs, in the Cruise tourism sector. That’s vision of new India that our leader Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi ji has set for India to become during this Amrit Kaal when India will become a completely developed nation by 2047.”

The newly inaugurated VICT was developed with an investment of ₹96.05 crores with a grant of ₹38.50 crores by the Ministry of Tourism, Government of India. It has a capacity to accommodate 2000 passenger vessels, requiring a draft of 8.1 meters. The Port has started construction of 4 numbers of Covered Storage Sheds to store bulk cargo with a Capacity of 2,94,000 MT at a cost of ₹116.04 crores. The newly inaugurated Covered Storage Shed at R1 area was built at an investment of ₹33.80 crores. This Shed, with a capacity to store 84,000 tonnes of cargo, have mist arrangement for dust suppression to reduce dust pollution. Revamping of oil refinery I, II & III Berths is going on with an investment of ₹167.66 Cr to handle 14.5 m draft or 85,000 DWT vessels. The Oil Refinery 1 berth – with a length of 243 Mt & constructed at a cost of ₹50.63 cr – was inaugurated by the Shri Sonowal today. This will enhance capacity addition by 3.81 MMT.  The world class Truck Parking Terminal – spread over an area of 20 acres of Port land – was developed with an investment of ₹36.05 crores. It will increase parking space for port-bound vehicles providing seamless movement of trucks. The Terminal can accommodate 666 vehicles. It also has a 100 bedded dormitory, shops, ATM, Fuel station, Weigh Bridge of 100 Tonne capacity, Workshop and servicing stations and other facilities for the staff operating the trucks.

In Andhra Pradesh, 113 projects worth more than ₹1.23 Lac Cr. have been identified under Sagarmala Programme. Out of the total projects, 36 projects worth ₹32,210 Cr. have been completed and 50 projects worth ₹73,500 Cr. are under implementation and 27 projects worth ₹17,700 Cr. are in various stages of development. The Vishakhapatnam Fishing Harbour is one of the first five major fishing harbours which will be developed as “Hubs of Economic Activity”. It will provide clean, decongested and hygienic modern ecosystem for fishing activities. The Union Ministry of Ports, Shipping & Waterways is financially supporting the modernisation and upgradation of Visakhapatnam Fishing Harbour project with a total project cost of ₹151 Cr and Sagarmala Grant in Aid of ₹ 50 Cr. For upliftment of fishermen community, development of Fishing Harbour in Juvvaladinne in SPSR Nellore District has been taken up with financial assistance under Sagarmala. The project cost is ₹288 Cr and it is expected to be completed by October 2023. About 25,000 fishermen families will be benefitted.