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The Mormugao Port Trust (MPT) has projects worth over Rs 3,400 crore under various stages on implementation. Majority of these projects would be taken up under public private partnership (PPP) mode.
The biggest amongst these projects is the multipurpose cargo terminal project to be developed on DBFOT basis. The project cost is estimated to be Rs 1,366 crore and it is expected to get approval from the Central Government by February 2015. The cargo terminal involves construction of two general cargo berths for increasing throughput of the port.
Another project envisages construction and development of iron ore handling port terminal with a capacity of 8 million tpa on DBFOT basis under PPP model. The project is estimated to cost Rs 1,000 crore and is expected to get Union Government approval by March 2016.
The Trust is also undertaking a project for deepening of approach channel and inner basin for cape size vessels at the port. The project involves dredging of the existing outer channel that is to be deepened from -14.3m to -19.8m and the inner turning circle from -14.1m to -19.5m. MPT has recently invited pre-qualification bids from contractors to execute the project. The work will be executed on DBFOT basis and is estimated to cost Rs 300 crore.
The Mormugao Port Trust has also initiated the process of building a Rs 8.7 crore cruise terminal at the port. The project cost has been received as a grant from the Ministry of Tourism. A consultant has been engaged and tender for the project will be floated shortly. Construction work on the cruise terminal is excpected to commence in a couple of months and it operational within two years.
The Goa port has already constructed a dedicated berth for cruise vessels which has length of 450 mts and width of 26 mts and dredged to -9.5 mts. The total expenditure for construction of the cruise berth and the dredging is about Rs 48 crore, which is financed by the Mormugao Port from its internal resources.
In November 2014, the MPT authorities submitted a port expansion plan to Nitin Gadkari, Minister of Road Transport, Highways and Shipping. The port has chalked out a comprehensive plan which includes expansion of existing facility to facilitate the diverse form of cargo, like coal, wooden chips and granite.
The Union government has also directed MPT to study the feasibility of starting satellite ports in Maharashtra and Karnataka, which can be linked up increasing the inland waterway traffic.
The Central Government has also given its approval to complete the remaining portion of the NH 17-B from Varunapuri to the Sada junction, to improve road connectivity to the Mormugao port.
Mormugoa Port handled traffic of 11.74 million tonne during 2013-14 accounting for 2 per cent of the total traffic handled by 12 major ports of India. The ban of exports of iron ore by the Supreme Court in October 2012 hit the performance of the port badly. Earlier, it used to handle traffic of around 50 million tonne per annum. Of which around 40 million tonne used to be iron ore.
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