In lines with ‘Make in India’ initiative, India’s leading port authority — Kandla Port Trust (KPT) is planning an ambitious project of a Port-Based Multi Product Special Economic Zone (PBMPSEZ) near Kandla Port. “The proposed project to be developed in Kandla and Tuna port areas, will be one of India’s largest port-based SEZs with world-class infrastructure,” said KPT chairman Ravi Parmar, adding that Ministry of Commerce & Industry project has already given approval to 5,000 hectares of land spreading over two areas — 3,600 hectares at Kandla and 1,400 hectares at Tuna.
“The prime objective for the project would be to increase trade and investment, bringing in FDI, generating employment for skilled, semi-skilled and unskilled category and enabling an effective administration mechanism. The positioning of SEZ in Kandla Port also provides an opportunity to leverage the advantage of robust port infrastructure available with KPT,” said Parmar.
On Monday, the KPT had organised investors’ meet at Gandhidham in Kutch to inform about the project. In the meet, the KPT chairman stated that a renewable energy park, covering 1,000 hectares of land, will also be developed near Kandla Port and the remaining land will be used for non-polluting manufacturing industries. “On the other hand, the Tuna region focuses to establish a ship building and repairing facility along with several ancillary units to support the port related activities,” he added.
According to the official sources, Kandla Port has already floated Global Expression Of Interest for the proposed SEZ project and received more than 25 Expression of Interests (EOIs) from leading players in the domain of renewable energy, desalination plant and free trade warehousing zone. As of now there are 199 operational SEZs in India and of them 17 are in Gujarat.
Kandla Port, one of the highest earning ports in the country, is situated in Kutch near Gandhidham. It is the top port in cargo handling of over 87 million tonnes. It is India’s hub for exporting grains and importing oil. Major imports from Kandla include petroleum, chemicals, iron & steel, machinery.