Shipping Minister Sarbananda Sonowal inaugurates and lays foundation stone of three projects at New Mangalore Port
MANGALORE : Union Minister for Ports, Shipping and Waterways Shri Sarbananda Sonowal inaugurated and laid foundation stone of three projects at New Mangalore Port on the Friday, 24th September’ 21. He was accompanied by MP Shri Nalin Kumar Kateel and Chairman of the New Mangalore Port Trust, Dr A V Ramana. The projects include laying of foundation stone for a truck parking terminal and modification of U.S. Mallya Gate, and dedication to nation of the newly built business development centre.
Speaking on the occasion, Shri Sonowal said that additional truck parking area of 17000 sq metres will be developed at cost of Rs 1.9 crore. The Truck Terminal would be provided concrete pavement, gate house, restaurant, and dormitory at the project cost of Rs.5.00 crores in 2022-23. He informed that the U.S. Mallya Gate, named after the founder of the Port, will be modified at a cost of Rs 3.22 crore. The work is likely to be completed by March 2022. He said, the Business Development Centre will provide all facilities under one roof to the EXIM trade fraternity.
The Minister said that due to improved hinterland connectivity, the container and other general cargo traffic is increasing at this Port. Around 500 trucks are moving to and fro daily for evacuation of cargo from New Mangalore Port to distant places outside Dakshin Kannada district and Karnataka state. Though the Port has provided parking facilities for about 160 trucks, the existing area is found to be insufficient. He said, construction of a new parking area will be a boon to EXIM trade from this Port.
Chairman, NMPT, Dr A V Ramana informed that the proposed modification of the East gate complex of the New Mangalore Port Trust have dimensions of 46.6 Mtrs. Length and 13.5 Mtrs. The gate complex has different lanes for movement of trucks, four wheeler passenger vehicles, two wheelers, pedestrians, provisions of RFID system, radiological monitoring equipment, boom barriers, etc. He said, the Business Development Centre and Testing Centre are built on an area of 2.80 acres on western side of NH 66 adjacent to the IOC retail outlet. The Business Development Centre is a Stilt + Ground + Three storey building with a total carpet area of 6300 Sqm and 1200 m2 test centre building. The project cost of construction of Business Development Centre for Export and Testing Centre is Rs 24.57 crore. It has a conference hall, restaurant, post office, banks, etc.
New Mangalore port, the only major port of Karnataka, is ideally located between Cochin and Goa ports. Every aspect of the infrastructure is designed to ensure that vessels are sharply focused on the customers’ logistical needs. The port has 15 fully operational berths, handling containers, coal and other cargo. New Mangalore Port Trust is an ISO 9001, 14001 and ISPS compliant port due to its strict emphasis on safety security. Being environmentally conscious, the Port keeps prime importance to ecological improvement projects developing a green belt and clean up drives at the bay. The port also extends warm welcome to cruise tourists, thanks to state of art cruise terminal with all the facilities of international standards and tourist places in the vicinity of Mangalore. The port is accessible from three national highways – NH66, 75 and 169. It is the meeting point of three rail routes- Konkan, South Western, Southern and accessible to Mangalore International Airport.
