By Our Correspondent
NEW DELHI/BHUBANESWAR: The President of India Smt. Droupadi Murmu, laid the foundation stone of four important Projects worth more than Rs.280 crore of Deendayal Port Authority, Kandla at Gujarat. These Projects will enhance Port Infrastructure along with boosting its Logistics performance as well as the overall Economic Growth for its entire hinterland. These projects will also improve the cargo handling capacity of the port along with further improvement in the turnaround time of the Ships and faster evacuation of the cargo.
The project of Construction of New Dome Shaped Godowns inside Cargo Jetty Area with Project Cost of Rs. 69.51 crore will have extended working height, resulting in more cargo handling, further suitable for unloading the bulk cargo through hydraulic system by Trucks / Transport vehicles of fifth generation.
The Upgradation of Plots & Storm Water Drains in 66 Hectare Area inside Cargo Jetty Area with Project Cost of Rs. 80 crore will upgrade the Plots/ Storage Area including utility services like Concrete Roads, Storm Water Drains network, pipe conduit for electrical cables, Paving and labour amenity, facilities like drinking water, toilets, and rest-shelters for workers.
The Upgradation of Plots, Roads and Storm Water Drains in another 40 Hectare Area inside Cargo Jetty Area with Project Cost of Rs. 47 Crore will increase the handling & storage capacity inside Custom Bonded Area and help in boosting Import / Export of Dry Cargo with capacity of 8.8 lakhs MT.
The project of Upgradation of Tuna Road from Two Lane to Four Lane with Project Cost of Rs. 87.32 Crore will result into faster Cargo evacuation, looking to the increase in Traffic handling at Port and accommodate future Port Traffic seamlessly. It will provide much desired connectivity to the Port from the National Highway and provide a face–lift to the approach roads to the Port in line with Gati Shakti. The project will also benefit the proposed Jetties to be developed by the DPA on PPP.
The President acknowledged the achievement of Deendayal Port for being the number one port of the country in terms of cargo handled and appreciated that the Gujarat Ports handled about 40% cargo of the entire country. She also praised the achievements of Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways and its various efforts for increasing the cargo handling capacity of the Deendayal Port through these Projects which will be beneficial to the entire region.
Deendayal Port Authority-Kandla (DPA) of Ministry of Ports, shipping and Waterways (MoPSW) recorded a growth of 17.22% over the corresponding period of the last fiscal by handling 70.14 MMT cargo in first two quarters of the current financial year and has handled 12.04 MMT cargo in July 2022 which is all time highest handling in a single month. The Port had handled highest ever cargo to the tune of 127.1 MMT for the year 2021-22. The Port had also handled Roll Off of 4 Super Over Dimension Packages Cargo at Bunder Basin Jetty Area-Kandla. DPA, Kandla has also augmented full automation of Gate Operations at Port in partnership with M/s.CEL and in guidance of M/s.NISG initiated RFID based Access Control System “e-Drishti”.
Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways as part of its commitment for the development of Port Sector in India has identified 74 projects worth Rs. 57,000 Crore under Sagarmala Programme in the state of Gujarat. Out of which, 15 projects worth Rs. 9,000 Crore have been completed; 33 projects worth more than Rs. 25,000 Crore are under implementation and 26 projects worth Rs. 22,700 Crore are under development. These projects are being implemented by central line ministries, major ports, state maritime board and other state agencies.
The President of India during her visit to Gujarat has dedicated and laid foundation stones of total various projects worth more than Rs.1300 crores related to Hospital buildings, Irrigation projects, Road connectivity and Ports. The program had august presence of Shri Acharya Devvrat, Governor of Gujarat; Shri Bhupendrabhai Patel, Chief Minister of Gujarat; Shri Shripad Yesso Naik, Minister of State for Ports, Shipping and Waterways & Tourism, Government of India; Shri Rushikesh Patel, Minister of Health, GoG; Shri Naresh Patel, Minister of Tribal Development, GoG; Smt. Nimishaben Suthar, Minister of State for Tribal Development and Health & Family Welfare, GoG; Shri Bhushan Kumar, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Ports, Shipping & Waterways and Shri S.K. Mehta, IFS, Chairman, Deendayal Port Authority-Kandla.
