Cabinet green signals a greenfield major port at Vadhavan, Maharashtra
Transport
5 min read
The government of India has approved the construction of a new major port at Vadhavan, situated in the Dahanu taluka of the Palghar district of Maharashtra. The approval for the project was given by the Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 19 June 2024. The development of a new port, Vadhavan, is in alignment with the PM Gatishakti programme.
The Union cabinet also approved a proposal to establish road connectivity between the Vadhavan Port and National Highways and rail linkage to the existing rail network and the upcoming Dedicated Rail Freight Corridor.
Developer of the Vadhavan Port
The proposed all-weather Greenfield Vadhavan Port is to be India’s largest deep draft port. It will be constructed by Vadhavan Port Project Limited (VPPL). The VPPL is a special purpose vehicle (SPV) set up by the Jawaharlal Nehru Port Authority (JNPA) and Maharashtra Maritime Board (MMB).
The JNPA has a stake of 74 per cent in the SPV, while the MMB stake in the SPV is 26 percent.
Jawaharlal Nehru Port Authority operates the Nhava Sheva port located in Navi Mumbai, Maharashtra.
Greenfield projects mean that there are no existing ports in the area and a new port will be built from scratch.
Deep Draft port means that the port can handle large cargo ships.
Cost of the Vadhavan Port
The total cost of the Vadhavan project is Rs.76,220 crore. This includes the cost of land acquisition, development of core infrastructure, Terminals, and other commercial infrastructure. The project will be built in the public-private partnerships (PPP) mode.
Feature of the Vdhavan Port
For building the Vadhavan port,1,448 hectares of land will be reclaimed in the sea. 10.14 km of offshore breakwater and container/cargo storage area will also be constructed.
Nine container terminals, each 1000 meters long, will be constructed. The port will also have four multipurpose berths, including the coastal berth, four liquid cargo berths, a Ro-Ro berth, and a separate berth for the Coast Guard.
The Vadhvan port will have a cumulative capacity to handle annual cargoes of 298 million metric tons (MMT), including around 23.2 million TEUs (Twenty-foot equivalents) of container handling capacity.
Significance of the Vadhvan port
The port being developed on the west coast of India will be a modern port with all the facilities to boost foreign trade. The Port is expected to boost foreign trade through the proposed IMEEC (India Middle East Europe Economic Corridor) and INSTC (International North South Transportation Corridor).
The port is also expected to tap into the international shipping lines between the Far East, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and the Americas.
The government aims to make the Vadhavan Port one of the top 10 major ports in the world.
The project is expected to give a boost to the local economy by providing direct and indirect employment to 12 lakh people.
Problems with the Port
The local population, especially the fishermen and the farmers are opposing the construction of Vadhavan port as they fear that it will adversely affect their livelihood. Also, the Dahanu area is ecologically fragile and the environmentalists are opposing the project as it will harm the sensitive ecology of the area.
