Posted on June 28, 2016
By Santosh Patnaik, The Hindu
Response from the Centre is awaited, says Vizag port official
Uncertainty dogs the fate of establishing a major port at Dugarajapatnam in Nellore district with Visakhapatnam Port Trust as major equity partner referring the report submitted by Aecom to the Ministry of Shipping.
Declining to comment on the finding in the techno-economic feasibility study that a major port at Dugarajapatnam is ‘financially and technically not viable,’ VPT Deputy Chairman P.L. Haranadh told The Hindu on Thursday that they were waiting for response from the Centre.
A major port at Dugarajapatnam, mentioned in the AP Reorganisation Act 2014, was cleared by the Union Cabinet in 2013 during UPA-II after Rail India Technical & Economic Services (RITES) found it viable. RITES had mooted development of the port with a capacity of 150.40 million tonnes in two phases with a total investment of Rs.17,615 crore.
Four options
It is reliably learnt that Aecom, a reputed cost and project management consultant, had suggested four options for the development of a port at Dugarajapatnam – all of which have been found to be not viable by the VPT – the only major port in the undivided Andhra Pradesh with a cargo handling capacity of 85 million tonnes. The options include public private partnership mode, viability gap funding, execution through Special Purpose Vehicle and heavy investment on dredging. As per the original plan, the Centre and the State would have jointly developed the port on 74:26 percent equity sharing. The VPT was mandated to have major equity on behalf of the Centre as it has rich experience being in operation since 1933.
While there is progress in developing another major port at Sagar in West Bengal with Centre’s funding, Dugarajapatnam has hit a roadblock since its conception.
“Dugarajapatnam is considered unviable because there are doubts on return on investment as Krishnapatnam and Chennai ports are close by. It is also close to satellite launching station at Sriharikota, and Pulicat Lake which attracts a large number of migratory birds,” said AP Chamber of Commerce & Industry Federation vice-president G. Sambasiva Rao.
Source: The Hindu
