The port sector in Gujarat (excluding the Kandla port), which handles more than one-fifth of India’s total cargo, will attract an investment of Rs50,000 crore by 2015, according to the Gujarat Maritime Board (GMB).
“Gujarat ports have drawn an investment of Rs20,000 crore over the past decade or so,” a GMB official said. “We are expecting an investment in excess of Rs50,000 crore for the sector in the next five years alone. The ambitious target is a part of the Gujarat government’s ‘Golden Goals’ programme.”
As for the Rs50,000 crore investment, a sizeable part of it, Rs30,000 crore, is expected to be used to double the cargo handling capacity at ports. “The remaining Rs20,000 crore is expected to come from ship building industry,” an official said.
Other GMB officials said that a major part of the fresh investments would be meant for setting up new ports, private terminals, jetties, and shipbuilding capacity. The industrial hotspots such as Mundra, Magdalla, Dahej and Hazira will attract bulk of these investments.
The investments will also enable the GMB to double the capacity of its ports in the next five years.
“The current cargo handling capacity of all GMB ports put together is 235 million metric tonnes per annum (mmtpa),” a GMB official said.
Comments