AP will have 3 new Greenfield ports by 2023: CM Jagan Mohan Reddy

Andhra Pradesh will have three functional Greenfield ports by 2023 creating an additional capacity of at least 100 million tonnes cargo per annum, according to Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy.

He was addressing Maritime India Summit 2021, which was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, virtually from his camp office in Amaravati.

Stating that several industrial nodes had come up in the State with ports as the focal point for development, the Chief Minister said the State government was in the process of ensuring further development.

“To further unlock this potential offered by the long coastline of 974-km in Andhra Pradesh, the Government has undertaken development of three Greenfield ports at Ramayapatnam, Machilipatnam and Bhavanapadu,” he said.

The ports are being developed on an ‘innovative’ model that mitigates all risks associated with greenfield port development. After the development of the port by the government, the operator of the port would be selected on competitive bidding basis ensuring maximum revenue realisation for the government.

“These all-weather, deep-drafted ports are all set to be operational by 2023, creating an additional capacity of at least 100 million tons of cargo per annum in the short term, with a potential to grow leaps and bounds in the long term,” Reddy said.

Andhra Pradesh has one major port in Visakhapatnam, five functional State ports and 10 other notified State ports with World Class facilities that handle more than 170 million tonnes of cargo per annum, second only to Gujarat. Andhra Pradesh shares 4 pc of total Indian exports and we aim to reach 10 pc share by 2030.