• Prime Minister Narendra Modi laid the foundation stone for Vadhvan Port in the presence of Maharashtra Governor C.P. Radhakrishnan, state Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and deputy Chief Ministers Devendra Fadnavis and Ajit Pawar.

• The proposed Rs 76,200-crore Vadhvan Port project is located in Palghar district adjoining Mumbai.

• It will be established as the 13th Major Port in the country.

• At present, there are 12 Major Ports under the government of India.

They are: 

1) Syama Prasad Mookerjee Port, Kolkata

2) Paradip Port, Odisha

3) Visakhapatnam Port, Andhra Pradesh

4) Kamarajar Port, Tamil Nadu

5) Chennai Port, Tamil Nadu

6) Tuticorin Port, Tamil Nadu

7) Cochin Port, Kerala

8) New Mangalore Port, Karnataka

9) Mormugao Port, Goa

10) Jawaharlal Nehru Port, Maharashtra

11) Mumbai Port, Maharashtra

12) Deendayal Port, Gujarat.

Key points on Vadhvan Port:

• The Vadhvan Port near Dahanu town in Palghar district is expected to be a world-class maritime gateway that will boost India’s economic growth by catering to large container vessels, offering deeper drafts, and accommodating ultra-large cargo ships. 

• It will provide direct connectivity to international shipping routes. 

• The project got the Union Cabinet’s approval in June this year.

• To be built as an all-weather, greenfield deep draft port 150 km from Mumbai, the maritime project will see an investment of Rs 76,200 crore, which includes the development of core infrastructure, terminals and other commercial infrastructure in public-private partnership (PPP) mode.

• The proposed Vadhvan Port will generate 12 lakh jobs for the local youth and women besides creating multiple facilities for the people of the area once it becomes operational.

• The first phase of the port project is expected to be completed by 2029.

• The port will be constructed by Vadhvan Port Project Limited (VPPL), an SPV formed by Jawaharlal Nehru Port Authority (JNPA) and Maharashtra Maritime Board (MMB), with a shareholding of 74 per cent and 26 per cent, respectively.

• The facility will comprise nine container terminals, each 1,000-metre long, four multipurpose berths, including the coastal berth, four liquid cargo berths, a Ro-Ro berth, and a Coast Guard berth.

• The project involves the reclamation of 1,448 hectare area in the sea and the construction of 10.14 km of offshore breakwater and container/cargo storage areas.

• Also, the project will create a cumulative capacity of 298 million metric tonne (MMT) per annum, including around 23.2 million TEUs (twenty-foot equivalents) of container handling capacity.

• Twenty-foot equivalent unit (TEU) is a unit of volume used in maritime and rail transport statistics, equivalent to a 20-foot ISO container. 

• Other benefits include EXIM trade flow facilitation through the India-Middle East-Europe-Economic Corridor (IMEC) and the International North-South Transportation Corridor (INSTC), accommodation of mainline mega vessels operating on international shipping routes connecting the Far East, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and America.

Does the West Coast need a new port?

• The Jawaharlal Nehru Port caters to the hinterland of Maharashtra, North Karnataka, Telangana and secondary hinterland of Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, NCR, Punjab and Uttar Pradesh.

• There is a need for a deep draft port that will accommodate the largest container ships in the world and also cater to the spillover traffic from JN Port.

• JN Port and Mundra have drafts of 15 m and 16 m respectively, while the world’s largest container handling modern deep draft ports require a draft of 18-20 m.

• The Vadhvan port has a natural draft of about 20 m close to the shore, making it possible for it to handle bigger vessels.

• The ever increasing size of container ships makes it imperative that a deep draft container port in the West Coast is developed.

• With the development of Vadhvan port, India will break into the countries with top 10 container ports in the world.

• The development of Vadhvan port will enable call of container vessels of 16,000-25,000 TEUs capacity, giving advantages of economies of scale and reducing logistics cost.

• Increasing containerisation of cargo in the wake of value-added manufacturing sector makes it important to prepare our port infrastructure for handling value-added import and export to facilitate manufacturing activity.

• The demand for container traffic will further accelerate after the plans for improving logistic infrastructure fructify and the Make in India push drives greater exports and manufacture sourcing to India.

Additional Read:

Major Ports in India

Maritime transport is a critical infrastructure for the social and economic development of a country. India is the 16th largest maritime country in the world, with a coastline of about 7,517 km. There are 12 Major Ports wholly owned by the central government and governed by provisions of Major Port Authority Act, 2021. Out of the 12 Major Ports, six are located on the East Coast and six on the West Coast.

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