Mangaluru: Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched PM Gati Shakti – ₹ 100 lakh crore, National Master Plan for Multi-Modal Connectivity in October 2021 to develop infrastructure to reduce logistics costs and boost the economy.
“PM Gati Shakti” is a digital platform that aims to bring 16 Ministries like Shipping, Waterways, Railways, Roadways etc. together for integrated planning and coordinated implementation of infrastructure connectivity projects. It will incorporate the infrastructure schemes of various Ministries and State Governments like Bharatmala, Sagarmala, Inland Waterways, Dry/Land Ports, UDAN etc.
Economic Zones like textile clusters, pharmaceutical clusters, defence corridors, electronic parks, industrial corridors, fishing clusters, Agri-zones will be covered to improve connectivity & make Indian businesses more competitive. The Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways has identified 101 projects under PM Gati Shakti National Master Plan to enhance port connectivity with consumption and production centres.
As many as 111 waterways, spread over 24 states in the country, have been declared as National waterways. In line with the goals of PM Gati Shakti, the New Mangalore Port Authority under the astute leadership of Chairman Dr A. V. Ramana is implementing three projects worth Rs. 695 crores under the PM Gati Shakti; namely mechanization of Berth No.14 for handling container & other cargos in DBFOT basis with M/s JSW at cost of Rs. 281 crores, Construction of new Berth no.17 for handling bulk & dry-bulk cargos worth Rs. 217 crores and Construction of fishing harbour at Kulai at cost of Rs. 197 crores.
Speaking on the occasion on Tuesday, March 8, Chairman Dr A. V. Ramana said that when you want your country to progress, you have to take all the people, and sectors together, only then the country can progress. Whenever you want development, the number of people living below the poverty level to be brought up so that purchasing capacity increases.
When purchasing capacity improves, naturally to meet needs manufacturing needs to be improved. This means new factories, and when new factories open there will be more jobs. Especially, there will be more jobs in the logistics area as the product should reach from the point of production to point of sale. And between the export and import is a port, and that is what New Mangalore Port Authority is doing, he added. Further, due to the semi-mechanized handling of containers, there was a tremendous need for the augmentation of the port capacity in handling containers.
Mechanized handling of containers at Berth No. 14 will satisfy this tremendous need and give a boost to the business environment of the hinterland of Karnataka. Higher handling capacity will increase business activities which will, in turn, lead to economic growth. NMPT has signed a Concession Agreement with JSW Infrastructure Limited to develop and operate a container terminal on the PPP model at a total cost of Rs 281 crores which will generate a considerable amount of direct & indirect employment. As the containers are clean cargo, higher containerization will lead to environmental benefits for the port maritime and shore ecosystems.
The mechanization is also expected to increase efficiency and thereby reduce the turnaround time, pre-berthing delay and dwell time in the Port. Thus, reinforcing the fact that transformation from manual to automatic decreases logistics cost, makes the supply chain seamless and facilitates multi-modal connectivity. As NMPA is mechanizing its only deep draft berth No. 14 for handling containers, Port will need a deep draft berth to handle the dry bulk and breakbulk cargoes arriving through large ships of 60,000 DWT and above.
The modern-day vessel sizes require 14 meters draft or above and lack thereof would bring down the trade potential of the hinterland. As it is necessary to build sufficient infrastructure so that the trade can be facilitated the Port proposed to construct a new Berth No.17 for multi-purpose cargo handling. The estimated cost of the project will be 217 crores and will be implemented through EPC mode.
The project is expected to generate employment opportunities for around 2000 people. As per the DPR, berth number 17 is expected to handle 131 vessels for different types of bulk cargo and generate a total tonnage of 4.73 MTPA.
The Port stands to earn a wharfage amount of ₹16.52 crore and a VR income of ₹17.92 crores. Therefore, the implementation of such a project will satisfy the requirement and provide the necessary infrastructure for improving trade and employment in the region. In addition, New Mangalore Port Authority is also working towards the construction of a Fishing Harbour at Kulai near the Port vicinity for an estimated cost of Rs 197 crore.
The fishing harbour at Kulai will contribute to increasing the fish and crustacean supplies to domestic and foreign markets. The project is estimated to employ 2720 sea-going fishermen and 1280 persons in shore-based establishments and allied industries. Fishermen are expected to earn income in the order of ₹55.27 crores. The sale of fish and other products will bring in revenue of ₹192.20 crores with an export bill of ₹33.88 crores.
The project will decongest the over-crowded old fishing harbour at Mangaluru and offer a safe sanctuary for fishing boats, especially during the monsoon and rough sea conditions. These boats normally approach New Mangalore Port seeking roughly during such times. With the project expected to stabilize in the fourth year, the Kulai fisheries harbour is expected to handle 27,100 tonnes of fish valued at ₹172.56 crores at boat side prices.
Thus the project will bestow socio-economic benefit to the society. The infrastructure development and capacity augmentation via mechanized handling of cargo has been taken up throughout Major Ports around the country by partnering with private investors in order to bring in state of art cargo handling facilities which enables quick, economic and qualitative service to the Industry.
New Mangalore Port stands committed to being a partner in progress and therefore warmly welcomes investors/businesses to utilize this opportunity and in turn contribute towards the development of the economy in the region.
