The Hindu Business Line : Maharashtra's major plans for minor ports

THE Maharashtra Maritime Board (MMB) has drawn up major plans for development of minor ports in the State, involving significant private sector participation.

With a coastline of 720 km, Maharashtra offers tremendous potential for development of minor ports. Now, the minor ports in the State handle about 10 per cent of the total cargo handled by all such facilities in the country. The State has 48 of the country's 185 notified minor ports. The State's minor ports were controlled by the Central Customs Department till 1963, the State Public Works Department from 1963 to 1990 and the Water Transport Commissioner from 1990 to 1996. The MMB was constituted in 1996 and has 13 members, with an annual income of $6 million.

What brightens the prospects of development of minor ports in the State is the rich hinterland, which can generate significant cargoes. The distant hinterland stretches as far North as Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan, western UP and Delhi; and Madhya Pradesh, and Chattisgarh to the East. The adjacent hinterland includes the industrial belt of Mumbai, Thane, Roha and parts of Maharashtra. The the cargoes from the distant hinterland are moved in containers. The adjacent hinterland, especially southern Maharashtra, can provide such cargoes as iron ore, coal, bauxite and grain.

"Maharashtra offers bright prospects for port development, in the light of the fast growing traffic volume, infrastructure, quick access to large industrial area and the pressure on the major ports for speedy handling of cargoes," an MMB official said.

The MMB has the blueprints of a port development policy that envisages development on BOOST (Build-Operate-Own-Share-Transfer) basis, with a concession period of 50 years and more than 90 per cent discount on wharfage. The equity participation by the Government or the MMB will be up to 11 per cent and the road linkage to the nearest State highway is to be part-funded by the State.

The minor ports already taken up for development include Rewas with a 21-berth configuration and estimated investment of $960 million for handling 44.7 million tonnes of cargo. The second port being developed is Dighi, 45 nautical miles south of Mumbai — here the proposed investment is $131 million for a six-berth facility with a cargo handling capacity of 19 million tonnes.

The minor ports identified for development include Wadhavan, 60 nautical miles north of Mumbai; Redi (205 miles), and Vijaydurg (150 miles). These ports will be handling a variety of cargoes, mostly dry bulk and liquid. "The proposed Wadhavan port will handle containers from and to North West, while that at Redi will handle cargoes such as iron ore, bauxite, coal and finished products," the MMB official pointed out.

The other investment opportunities lie in the development of infrastructure through joint ventures for Passenger Water Transport (PWT) on the eastern and western coast of Mumbai as also across the city's harbour. "Operating ferry services on the east, west and harbour routes around Mumbai and development of other sites for tourism and inland water transportation also offer significant investment opportunities," according to the official.

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