The Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways (MoPSW) on Monday announced that it had approved a Rs 438.29 crore project to transform Berth No. 9 of the New Mangalore Port.
Aimed at boosting the port's capacity to handle liquid bulk cargo—such as crude oil, petroleum products, and LPG—the berth's draft will be increased from 10.5m to 14m, enabling the port to accommodate vessels up to 2,00,000 deadweight tonnage (dwt), including Very Large Gas Carriers (VLGCs).
This would be a major step in increasing the port's capacity to handle liquid cargo to 10.9 million tonnes per annum (MTPA), and comes amid the raging war in the Gulf, which has seen the port emerge as a hotspot for India-bound tankers over the past few weeks.
Arrangements will also be made to potentially increase the draft depth to 19.8m in the future, based on the port's requirements.
The modernisation of the berth is also expected to enhance the port's overall safety, by means of advanced firefighting systems, nitrogen generation skids, and integrated control systems.
The Rs 438.29 crore project will be implemented through a public-private partnership (PPP) under the design, build, finance, operate, and transfer (DBFOT) model.
This model, as the name suggests, involves the private partner designing, building, financing, and operating the project for a specified amount of time—for which it may get monetary support by the government during that time. It is then transferred back to the government.
The private partner here will be selected through a competitive bidding process, with the concession period set at 30 years—including a two-year period for construction.
During the concession period, the private partner will commit to a target of at least 7.63 MTPA by the fifth year of operations, while the New Mangalore Port Authority (NMPA) receives fixed royalty payments based on cargo volumes.
"By replacing ageing facilities with world-class marine infrastructure, enhancing cargo handling capacity to 10.90 MTPA, and enabling the handling of larger vessels including VLGCs, we are positioning our ports to meet future energy and trade demands while strengthening India’s role as a global maritime leader," Union Minister, MoPSW, Sarbananda Sonowal said in a statement.
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