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In a major boost to infrastructure development in Thoothukudi in southern Tamil Nadu, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday will inaugurate various development projects and lay the foundation stone for projects worth ₹17,000 crore.
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Shipping Minister Sarbananda Sonawal said an outer harbour container terminal project will be taken up at the VO Chidambaranar Port in Thoothukudi costing ₹7,056 crores. This will position the port as a major transhipment hub on the east coast. Prime Minister Modi will lay the foundation stone for the project, he told newspersons.
‘Revolutionary step’
The VOC port will be India’s first Green Hydrogen Hub for large scale production. Already 500 acres of land has been earmarked and a MoU has been signed with NTPC for installation of Green Hydrogen Production Facility, he said.
Also, for the time in India, an indigenously developed hydrogen fuel cell ferry built by Cochin Shipyard Ltd i will be launched. This is zero emission and zero noise vessel. “This is a revolutionary step towards India becoming a Hydrogen Fuel Vessel Manufacturer,” he said.
The minister said that for the first in India, the Shipping Corporation of India will convert two of its ships to run on green hydrogen – a move towards sustainable development. Further, Under the Green Tug Transition Program, it is targeted to convert at least 50 per cent of all tugs into Green Tugs by 2030, he said.
The Centre pays special attention to development of ports in Tamil Nadu through initiatives like Sagarmala , Bharatmala and Prime Minister’s Viruvi Shakti Perundittam. Since 2014, a total of 98 projects worth ₹93,671 crore are being implemented and 50 projects worth ₹35,247 crore have already been completed.
In the last 10 years, the annual cargo handling capacity of the three major ports - Chennai, VOC and Kamarajar - has doubled to 338 million tonnes from 167 million tonnes. Operational time of the ship has been reduced by up to 50 percent, he said.
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