Tenders for 3 ports worth Rs 20K cr to come by March: Gadkari

The government will float tenders for three new major ports in Maharashtra, West Bengal and Tamil Nadu by March, entailing investment of Rs 20,000 crore, Union Minister Nitin Gadkari said today.

"I can assure you that we will issue tenders for these three projects which require an investment of Rs 18,000-20,000 crore, by March and the work on the projects like breakwaters will begin by April-May," the Road, Transport and Highways Minister told an industry meet here.

The three new ports will come up in Wadhwan (Maharashtra), Sagar (West Bengal) and Colachel (Tamil Nadu).

On whether the country should have more ports when the existing ones are not operating to capacity, Gadkari said the idea is to let them compete more, helping consumers through correction in rates.

The government is also targeting to increase the use of cheaper and cleaner water transport for movement of goods to 15 per cent of the trade by 2019, from the present 3.5 per cent, he said.

Gadkari said logistics constitutes for up to 30 per cent of a finished product's cost, which makes exports uncompetitive.

He said the 12 major ports and three state-run undertakings under his ministry will be delivering a profit of Rs 6,000 crore this fiscal, and the entire money will be invested for modernisation, computerisation and mechanisation of ports.

An international consultant has provided 120 suggestions towards this purpose, of which the ministry has implemented around 28, he added.

Apart from this, the ministry has also engaged McKinsey to study the entire cargo movement scenario in the country and suggest ways to improve efficiency, the Minister said, adding the final report is expected in a month.

Citing the example of Mahanadi Coalfields (MCl), Gadkari said transporting the coal to Paradip Port in Odisha and then getting it to the upcoming Wadhwan Port to feed the power plants in Marathwada will make power cheaper by up to 80 paise a unit. Production from MCl is slated to go up five times to 300 million tonnes in the next three years.

The Minister said according to McKinsey, routing the cargo from Paradip Port will alone help save up to Rs 10,000 crore annually.