'4 Greenfield Ports Planned in Andhra Pradesh'
HYDERABAD: With an aim to become one of the top maritime business destinations in the country, the Andhra Pradesh government is planning to develop four new greenfield ports at Durgarajapatnam, Narsapruam, Bhavanapadu and Antarvedi. It is also planning to improve the linking of hinterlands to the sea ports to explore new investment opportunities, Visakhapatnam Port Trust chairman MT Krishna Babu has said.
Inaugurating a road show in connection with the upcoming Maritime India Summit-2016 here Thursday, Krishna Babu said that being a state with the second longest coastline close to East Asian ports, Andhra Pradesh has the potential to become the top maritime destination in the country. With 20 new projects for each major port, the state government is aiming to draw huge investments to improve maritime industry, especially the shipping business in the state.
The Maritime India Summit is the best opportunity for both the government and the industry to explore new ideas for port led development, he felt.
The summit will be inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on April 14 in Mumbai. The shipping ministry has planned to hold road shows in various cities to promote the event. While road shows were held in Kolkata and Chennai, the third one was held in Hyderabad on Thursday.
Organising this summit for the first time, India will highlight around 20 major projects with potential investment worth $6 billion.
Around 30 countries have been invited to take part in the summit for which Republic of Korea will be the partner country.
Being a global leader in ship building industry and maritime technology, Korea is the right choice to be a partner in this event, opined shipping ministry director Devendra Kumar Rai. “The summit is aimed at bringing maritime industry of 30 nations on a single platform. This is also an opportunity for Indian maritime industry to draw investments from both domestic and international players,” he said.
Director of ports (AP) V Ravi Kumar and others were present.