With green nod in sight, new mega port at Vadhavan set to become a reality

The Expert Appraisal Committee has recommended environmental and coastal regulation zone clearance for the project during a 6 February meeting, per documents seen.

Unmesh Wagh, Deputy Chairman and Chairman In-Charge of state-owned Jawaharlal Nehru Port Authority (JNPA) that is helming the Rs76,220 crore project in partnership with the Maharashtra Maritime Board confirmed the green nod recommended by EAC.

The last mile rail and road links to the new port will be funded by the Indian Railways and the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI), respectively. The new offshore site, though, will require large-scale reclamation for which material will be sourced from sand borrow pits off the coast of Daman some 50 kms away.

JNPA has assured that the resettlement and rehabilitation (R&R) benefits will be extended to all the Project Affected Families (PAF) whether belonging to below poverty line (BPL) or non-BPL. The EAC has asked JNPA to prepare a time-bound Livelihood Opportunities Plan (LOP) for locals based on socio-economic studies.

Vadhavan Port will be designed to handle 24.5 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) a year …It will have four multi-purpose berths each having a berth length of 250 metres, four liquid bulk berths, a Ro-Ro berth, small craft (pilot boats and tugs) and coastguard berths and rail terminal.

Vadhavan would be the first major port (owned by the Union government) to be built in more than two decades (the last was Kamarajar Port in Tamil Nadu which started operations in February 2001). It will also be the first major port to be developed in partnership with a state government. The construction of a new port at Vadhavan is key to the expansion plans of JNPA – India’s biggest state-owned container gateway and the nation’s second largest – given the limitations on expansion at Nhava Sheva (where J N Port is located).