Environment green signal for Vadhavan port, Cabinet to take up soon: Shipping Minister

The Rs 76,000 crore Vadhavan Port has got a nod of the Union Environment Ministry and will soon be sent for Cabinet approval, according to Ports, Shipping, and Waterways Minister, Sarbananda Sonowal. Speaking to journalists in New Delhi, he said that a final approval from the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) will soon be obtained.

The nod from Project Investment Board (PIB) – which precedes a cabinet approval for large infrastructure projects – has been received on Friday, officials aware of the development told ET.

“Vadhavan Port Projects Ltd. (VPPL) is a special purpose vehicle (SPV) with 74% stake of Jawaharlal Nehru Port Authority (JNPA), and 26% with Maharashtra Maritime Board. Of the Rs 76,220 crore investment, Rs 38,976 crore will be invested by SPV in infrastructure and Rs 37,244 crore is expected from the private sector,” Sonowal said.

An ‘in-principle’ approval for the port was given by the Union cabinet in February 2020.

The 24.5 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) capacity port will primarily be handling containers. “The new port will user increased cargo handling capacity for North, North-West, and Central India. This will lead to cost savings, significant employment opportunities, improved infrastructure, use of advanced technology, and larger economic development,” he added.

This port is expected to operate under the ‘land lord model’ with basic infrastructure developed by the SPV and commercial operations undertaken by private partners through public private partnership (PPP).Being strategically located near international shipping lanes, Vadhavan will be serving export-import trade between Far East and Northern Europe. It also has the potential to operate as a transshipment port.

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