New Mangalore Port Authority (NMPA) Chairman A V Ramana said NMPA will begin commercial operation of the integrated container at berth No 14 by the fourth week of March.
Presently, berth No 14 was handling 1.50 lakh TEUs of containers ((twenty-foot equivalent units) annually. With Jindal Steel Works' (JSW’s) latest ultra-modern infrastructure, berth No 14 will now handle 3 lakh TEUs annually.
Mechanised handling of containers at berth No 14 will give a boost to the business environment in the state's hinterland.
Higher handling capacity will increase business activities and in turn, will lead to economic growth.
NMPA has signed a concession agreement with JSW Infrastructure Limited to develop and operate a container terminal on the PPP model at a cost of Rs 281 crore. The mechanisation is expected to increase efficiency and reduce the turnaround time, pre berthing delay and dwell time in the port.
NMPA will also mechanise its only deep draft berth No 14 for handling containers. The port will need a deep draft berth to handle the dry bulk and breakbulk cargoes arriving through large ships of 60,000 deadweight tonnage and above.
The chairman said that NMPA is implementing three projects worth Rs 695 crore under PM Gati Shakti.
NMPA proposes to construct a new berth No 17 for multi-purpose cargo handling at a cost of Rs 217 crore and it will be implemented by engineering procurement and construction mode.
The project is expected to employ around 2,000 people. As per the DPR, berth number 17 is expected to handle 131 vessels for different types of bulk cargo and generate a total tonnage of 4.73 MTPA. The work order will be issued by the end of 2023.
The NMPA chairman said that the fishing jetty in Kulai was being planned at an estimated cost of Rs 197 crore.
The legal hurdles posed to the project was resolved and the work order will be issued shortly, he said.
Once completed, the project will ease congestion in the fishing harbour and offer a safe place for fishing boats during storms, he added.
The Kulai harbour is expected to handle 27,100 tonnes of fish worth Rs 172.56 crore. U S Mallya gate at the port will be modernised. A truck terminal will come up at KK Gate and a truck terminal at the customs gate will be modernised, he said.
Also, 85,000 sqm of portland in Thannirbhavi will be leased out for a Gas Plant project.
The land was allotted to Priya Gold for the same which will generate direct and indirect employment.
The chairman, to a query on the closure of the toll plaza near NITK, said NMPA is not an authority to deliberate and decide on the toll plaza.
NMPT Deputy Chairman K G Nath said that NMPA registered a growth of 6.74% from April 2021 to February 2022.
The port has handled 139,967 TEUs of containers during the year when compared to 135,148 TEUs in the previous year, he added.