VIJAYAWADA: With the State government accelerating work on its maritime grid, Infrastructure and Investment Minister BC Janardhan Reddy has reaffirmed in recent progress reviews and legislative briefs that Andhra Pradesh remains strictly on course to commission its primary State-led greenfield port projects — Ramayapatnam, Mulapeta and Machilipatnam — by late 2026.
Under the direction of Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu, the government is treating these project developments as vital economic assets, clearing bottlenecks in land acquisition, rail-road links, and rehabilitation and resettlement (R&R) to transform the state’s 974-km coastline into a primary logistics gateway.
This operational push is backed by a Rs 1,638-crore sanction for Phase-II land acquisition covering over 6,248 acres to secure long-term port expansion.
This physical rollout is underpinned by a comprehensive administrative framework codified in the Andhra Pradesh Maritime Policy 2024. Approved in December 2024, the policy outlines an ambitious roadmap to position Andhra Pradesh as India’s primary maritime gateway by 2030.
Under this framework, the State aims to scale its logistics footprint significantly, targeting a 20% share of India’s total port cargo by 2047 while developing at least one state facility into a top 20 global mega-port.
To support this expanded cargo volume, the policy mandates rigorous operational standards across all non-major ports, targeting an optimal port utilisation rate of 75% by 2030 while reducing average vessel turnaround times to under 15 hours.
Alongside port logistics, the government is driving industrial and workforce development across the broader maritime ecosystem. Andhra Pradesh has set a target to capture 25% of India’s shipbuilding and ship repair market by 2047.
To ensure a steady supply of skilled labour, the policy aims to train 5,000 maritime professionals by 2028 through dedicated Skill Development Centres and the establishment of a specialised Maritime University.
The Andhra Pradesh Maritime Board (APMB) is driving this State-led expansion using a landlord model strategy. Under this framework, APMB funds and manages initial EPC construction, land acquisition, marine engineering, and multimodal connections, followed by DBFOT (Design, Build, Finance, Operate, Transfer) concessions for private terminal operators. Across the four state-backed greenfield port projects currently in execution, the state is adding 108.66 MMTPA of Greenfield Phase-I capacity. This complements the State’s existing operational baseline at the Kakinada Anchorage Port, owned and operated directly by APMB (5.00 MMTPA capacity, generating 100% state revenue).
The primary State-funded greenfield project is the Ramayapatnam Greenfield Port, covering 4 berths in Phase-I for a 34.04 MMTPA capacity, with a master-planned potential of 138.54 MMTPA across 19 berths.
Engineered with a basin depth of -20.2 m to accommodate Super Cape-size vessels up to 200,000 DWT, construction has surpassed 80% progress on marine components, incorporating a dedicated state-anchored BPCL liquid berth.
In northern AP, Mulapeta Port in Srikakulam is being built to provide 4 berths handling 23.50 MMTPA in Phase-I, serving as a state-developed gateway for landlocked industrial corridors in Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, and Odisha while diverting heavy mineral traffic away from urban Visakhapatnam.
Machilipatnam Port provides another 4 berths handling 35.12 MMTPA to serve the central Krishna-Godavari industrial belt directly, while Kakinada Gateway Port represents a state-facilitated greenfield PPP project targeting 16.00 MMTPA across 3 berths.
The State is advancing the Dugarajapatnam project through Detailed Project Report (DPR) stages as a dual-purpose complex, combining commercial berths with four state-of-the-art dry docks capable of constructing and repairing vessels up to 200,000 Gross Tonnage (GT) to support the policy’s 25 percent national shipbuilding target.
Furthermore, State-managed minor lighterage port and coastal harbours — including Nakkapalli, Meghavaram, Bheemunipatnam, Kalingapatnam, Narsapur and Vodarevu — are earmarked under Andhra Pradesh Maritime Board master planning to facilitate barge operations, coastal regional trade and strengthening State fishing harbour infrastructure.