The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh / Hyderabad News : Gangavaram to be operational in August

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Friday, Jun 20, 2008
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Andhra Pradesh - Hyderabad

Gangavaram to be operational in August

Special Correspondent

HYDERABAD: Four out of the five berths planned for greenfield port developed at Gangavaram near Visakhapatnam are ready and it is expected to be operational in August to handle coal and iron ore.

Manmohan Singh, Secretary, Infrastructure & Investment, said that the new port at Krishnapatnam on the eastern coast about 40 km from Nellore, became operational on Thursday with three out of its four berths being opened for regular traffic of cargo/container ships.

Bulk carriers that used to anchor at sea and shift cargo by small boats earlier, are now berthing at the platform onshore. This was made possible with dredging of the sea-bed to create enough depth for heavy vessels. State-of-the-art anchoring facilities too, are now available for container services.

He said that the 4th berth too, would be opened soon. Over Rs. 2,000 crore were invested by the private developer in the project thus far, he said.

The new port, that will transform the economy around Nellore, will be formally dedicated to the nation by UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi on July 17. A series of thermal power stations taken up for construction at Krishnapatnam with an installed capacity of nearly 5,000 MW will depend on the port for coal from Indonesia and other countries.

This port now handles iron ore exports from mines in Anantapur district and adjoining Bellary in Karnataka. A railway line has been taken up to shorten the distance between Krishnapatnam and these mines. Already, a 400-KV sub-station has been constructed at a cost of Rs. 250 crores to handle power needs. “The port is very promising, as it is close to Chennai also”, he said.

Dr. Singh said with paper work over on the new ports proposed at Machilipatnam, all works have been grounded for this port. Similarly, work on the Odarevu and Nizampatnam was on.

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