Looking to upgrade facilities at the Deendayal Port (DP) in Kandla, Gujarat, the center has announced projects worth nearly INR 300 crores. This investment, under the Sagarmala project, is expected to reduce the turnaround time and lead to a faster evacuation of cargo while enabling mechanized operations.
“The infrastructure upgrade at DP port will boost its performance and improve overall economic growth for the hinterland and region,” a senior port official said.
The upcoming upgrade will include the construction of a dome-shaped warehouse within the vicinity of the cargo jetty area entailing a project cost of INR 70 crore. Specially designed to extend the working height allowing more cargo handling capacity, the construction of this warehouse will help in the unloading of bulk cargo through the use of hydraulics by transport vehicles of fifth generation or larger trucks.
Further, the Cargo jetty area will also see an upgrade of plots and stormwater drains costing around INR 80 crore and will include the addition of utility services. The area under upgrade will be around 66 hectares.
In addition to the 66 hectares, an estimated cost of INR 47 crore will be invested for the upgradation of another 40-odd hectares. This will involve the improvement of handling and storage capacity inside the custom bonded area, leading to a boost in import-export of dry cargo and lead to increase in capacity to 8.8 lakh tonnes.
The two lanes will be doubled to four lanes inside the port, estimated to cost INR 87 crore, which will result in faster cargo evacuation. “It will provide better connectivity to the port from National Highway and give a face-lift to approach roads at the port. The projects will also benefit the proposed jetties to be developed by the Deendayal Port Authority on a PPP basis,” a trade source said.
The Deendayal Port recorded a growth of 17.22% cargo handling in the first two quarters of FY 23, to 70.14 million tonnes of cargo.