Machilipatnam port will be ready in 2 yrs: Naidu

Known as Bandar (port) as it once served as a trading port for the Nizams, the Dutch, the British and the French, the fishing harbour here is set to be developed as a high-tech deepwater port within the next two years.

Chief Minister Nara Chandrababu Naidu announced the schedule after unveiling a pylon to mark the launching of the port works at Mekavanipalem on the way to Manginapudi beach on Thursday.

“The work has been entrusted to Navayuga group, which will be dredging the sea bed and building walls to accommodate larger ships deep inside the port to facilitate handling containers,” the Chief Minister said, adding that Navayuga group is known for keeping deadlines. Naidu said that the Machilipatnam port will act as a port of entry into Amaravati, the state capital, which is around 70 km from here.

The Navayuga group runs the Krishnapatnam port.

The long-awaited deepwater port will be coming up on 4,800 acres of land with a water channel 12.80 meters deep to allow heavy ships. There will be 12 berths with a total cargo capacity of 17 million tons. The cost of building the port will be Rs 1,860 cr and is expected to provide direct employment to 80,000 young men and women in a time span of five years.

Land pooled

The port is expected to handle import of coking coal, container cargo, general goods and edible oil, besides export of iron ore, thermal coal, steel, aluminium and agricultural products.

The land required for the port and the proposed industrial clusters in its vicinity was pooled as was done to build capital city Amaravati by pooling land from farmers. In Manginipudi, farmers gave away 146 acres, in Tapasipudi 143 acres, in Gopuvanipalem 90 acres, in Kari Agraharam 364 acres and in Mekavanipalem 122 acres. The remaining land was either acquired by government or assigned.