The Union Cabinet has approved the development of a Rs 76,200-crore greenfield deep draft major port at Vadhavan in Maharashtra. The project will be constructed by Vadhavan Port Project (VPPL), an SPV formed by Jawaharlal Nehru Port Authority (JNPA) and Maharashtra Maritime Board (MMB), with a shareholding structure of 74 percent and 26 percent, respectively.
The cost allocation will cover the development of core infrastructure, terminals and other commercial infrastructure, to be executed on public-private partnerships (PPP) mode. It will create employment opportunities for 12 lakh people. The port will comprise nine container terminals, each 1,000 mtrs. long, four multipurpose berths, including coastal berth, four liquid cargo berths, a Ro-Ro berth, and a Coast Guard berth. The port is slated to be ranked among the prime 10 ports in the world.
The project will create a cumulative capacity of 298 million tonne per annum, including around 23.2 million TEUs of container handling capacity. It involves the reclamation of 1,448 hectares of area in the sea and the construction of 10.14 km of offshore breakwater and container/cargo storage areas.
The Cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, also gave approval for road connectivity between the port and national highways by the Ministry of Road Transport & Highways (MoRTH), and rail linkage to the existing rail network and the upcoming Dedicated Rail Freight Corridor by the Ministry of Railways.
The world-class maritime terminal facilities will help create capability to handle mainline mega vessels plying on international shipping lines between the Far East, Europe, the Middle East, Africa and the Americas.
