Shri Nitin Gadkari, Minister of Shipping, Road Transport & Highways, Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation will inaugurate five port projects worth Rs 1062 Crores in Vishakhapatnam tomorrow. In addition to this, he will also lay the foundation stone for two port connectivity projects worth Rs 679 Crores.
The projects to be inaugurated include upgradation of existing iron ore handling facility at Outer Harbour of Vizag Port at a cost of Rs 580 Crores. This would involve modernising and upgrading the 40 year old iron ore handling facility so that it can handle larger vessels of 2 lakh DWT with loading rate of 8000 MT/hour. Capacity enhancement would be to 16.20 MTPA from 12.50 MTPA. The work was awarded to M/s.ESSAR Vizag Terminals Ltd on DBFOT basis with revenue share of 31% on 14.5.2015 is was completed on 31.5.2018.
The other projects to be inaugurated include Development Berths at the inner harbour of the port at a cost of Rs 243 Crores and Post Panamax Quay Cranes costing Rs.151 Crores. The capacity of the two new berths is 6.39 MTPA and they will handle Panamax vessels of draft upto 14.5 meters. The two Post Panamax Quay cranes and four Rubber Tyre Gantry Cranes have been procured to modernise operations and make them more efficient. The cranes were commissioned in March 2018 in a record time of 12 months. They will lead to higher productivity of 27-30 moves per hour and are equipped with latest safety features.
In addition to the above Shri Gadkari will also inaugurate a high rise wall of 7.5 m constructed from Seahorse Junction to Convent Junction to prevent dust from spreading to neighbouring residential areas. It has a total length of 1700 metres and has been constructed at a cost of Rs 10.35 Crores.
Shri Gadkari will also inaugurate the 4- laning of 4.15 Kms of port connectivity road – Phase-II, constructed at a cost of Rs. 77 Crore. This will allow faster transportation of road bound cargo. Vishakhapatnam Port Trust (VPT) and National Highways Authority of India (NHAI ) hold 50:50 equity in the project. Equity of Rs.20 crore by VPT is through Sagarmala
The Minister will also lay the foundation for two port projects worth Rs.679 Crore tomorrow. The first project is for construction of Grade Separator from H-7 area to Port Connectivity Road by-passing convent Junction at a cost of Rs. 60 Crore under Sagarmala. This will enable hassle free movement to cargo vehicles by providing a bypass at the busy convent junction to the Port Connectivity Road duly separating the city traffic. The project will be implemented by Visakhapatnam Port Road Company Ltd, an SPV with VPT and NHAI.
The second project is for the development of 12.7 km road connectivity to VPT from Sheelanagar Junction to Anakapalli-Sabbavaram/Pendurti-Anandapuram road (NH 16) at a cost of Rs. 619 Crore. The connectivity will help the Port based cargo movement to avoid the city for both South and North bound cargo. This will connect the Port directly to Visakhapatnam city by-pass road from Anakapalli to Anandapuram. The project will be implemented by NHAI.
Shri Gadkari is on a three day official visit to Andhra Pradesh from 11th to 13th of July. He visited Polavaram Dam yesterday. He is in Vishakhapatnam today, reviewing the progress of port and inland waterways projects. He will lay the foundation stone for, and inaugurate National Highways, Port Connectivity and Port projects in Vishakhapatnam tomorrow.
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