The Indian government is planning to invest rupees 57,000 crores to develop shipbuilding infrastructure and expand Kandla Port in Gujarat, by 135 million tons per annum.
The Union Shipping Minister Sarbanda Sonowal has said that once completed the project would enable the production of 32 new vessels or undertake repairs of 50 old ships annually, giving a push to the Make-in-India, Make-for-the-World initiative.
The project would involve boosting the country’s technical capabilities to construct Very Large Crude Carriers or VLCCs and similar class of ships having a deadweight tonnage capacity of up to 3,20,000.
It will span 8000 acres and will also include a fishing harbour, marine industrial cluster, a marine and townships, Sonowal added.
Referring to the expansion plan, he said that the Deendayal Port Authority, which is responsible for administering the Kandla Port will develop a new modern port facility outside the Kandla Creek.
It will be developed using the 6 km available waterfront area.
Kandla Port’s present capacity is 263 million tonnes per annum and it has a diverse cargo profile with 55% liquid cargo, 20% dry bulk, 12% break bulk cargo and 5% container cargo.
However, there is a need to increase the volume of Liquid and Dry Bulk Cargo Capacity, he added.
Per the plan, dry bulk cargo being dealt with at the cargo jetties inside the creek will be shifted to the new facility which will have modern equipment and evacuation systems for higher productivity and smooth operations.
The existing dry cargo jetties will then be converted into liquid jetties, enabling the port to handle additional liquid cargo and decreasing the waiting times of liquid tanker ships, which are now 5 to 10 days.
As this facility will be near the navigation channel, higher drafts can be welcomed with minimal capital dredging. Hence, bigger ships will be able to visit the new facility.
