Shipping Min to award 25 port projects under PPP this fiscal

The Ministry is also expecting investments from Singapore, Dubai and other Gulf countries, he said.

"We would award 25 PPP port projects in the current fiscal. The collective value of these contracts would be around Rs 20,000-crore. So far, five projects have been awarded to the developers," Shipping Secretary K Mohandas told PTI here without divulging any financial details of the contracts.

Besides, the Ministry is also expecting investments from countries like Singapore, Dubai and other Gulf countries. Two of these projects at Paradip and Ennore near Chennai have already been awarded to Sterlite-Leighton and Eredene Capital consortium, respectively.

These projects also include creation of mega container terminal or bulk transhipment at Chennai Port, New Mangalore Port and conversion of berth for container terminal at Tuticorin port.

Besides, these 25 PPP projects include development and operation of two berths at Indira dock as dry bulk cargo terminal, and development and operation of a dry commercial cargo at Mumbai Port.

According to Mohandas, these projects are expected to enhance capacity at the centrally-regulated 12 ports by 46 per cent.