The Union Minister for Ports, Shipping and Waterways, Sarbananda Sonowal said that investment opportunities in the range of Rs 100,000–125,000 crore is expected for expanding capacity and creating world-class infrastructure at Indian ports.
The upcoming ports at Vizhinjam in Kerala and Vadhavan in Maharashtra have natural drafts in excess of 18 metre that would enable ultra-large container and cargo vessels to be accommodated on the ports.Currently, India’s ports are unable to handle ultra-large container vessels due to lack of necessary land-based mega port and terminal facilities.
The Vadhavan will aid in accommodating huge container ships as well as breakbulk cargo liquid including Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG). The port will host containers of 16,000-25,000 TEU (twenty-foot equivalent unit) capacity.
Vizhinjam Port has been planned to offer large scale automation for quick turnaround of vessels with adequate advanced infrastructure to handle ‘Megamax’ containerships.
