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The Jaganmohan Reddy-led Andhra Pradesh government has approved the detailed project report (DPR) for a new port at Ramayapatnam in the state’s Prakasam district as it looks to expand the port capacity to 400 million tonnes (mt) by 2024 from 110 mt.
“We have approved the DPR prepared by RITES Ltd towards the development of Ramayapatnam Port and for taking up Phase 1 works with a total project cost of Rs 3,736.14 crores in 36 months,” Mekapati Goutham Reddy, Minister for Industries, Commerce, information Technology and Skill Development, Andhra Pradesh, tweeted from his official handle.
“Our government will provide Rs 100 crore towards the land acquisition cost for acquiring the required land,” he wrote in the tweet.
N P Ramakrishna Reddy, Chief Executive Officer (CEO), A P Maritime Board told BusinessLine that the state plans to build four new ports at Bhavanapadu, Ramayapatnam, Machilipatnam and Kakinada SEZ port.
Except the Kakinada SEZ port, which was awarded to the GMR Group for development under the PPP route, the State plans to develop the new ports on the land lord model, whereby the state government will fund the basic infrastructure of the port such as dredging, reclamation, breakwater and land acquisition and outsource operations to private firms who will procure heavy duty cranes and other infrastructure required at the berths to handle cargo, Reddy said.
“We are aiming at handing about 400 mt of cargo by 2024 from the present capacity of 110 mt. The capacity of the existing ports in the state will go up to 250 mt in the next four years. By building four new ports, another 150 mt capacity will be added which will take the total cargo handling capacity to 400 mt,” Reddy said.
The State government has applied for environment and coastal regulation zone (CRZ) clearances for the Ramayapatnam port project, which is expected by September/October.
“Simultaneously, we will start preliminary work on the project. That is how we should get the project off the ground,” he added.
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