The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh News : Chennai’s bane a boon for Krishnapatnam

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Friday, Jul 18, 2008
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Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh

Chennai’s bane a boon for Krishnapatnam

Special Correspondent

HYERABAD: What was treated as a bane for Chennai port turned into a boon to Krishnapatnam, a greenfield port developed by the private sector in Nellore in Andhra Pradesh.

Chennai port authorities, for a variety of reasons, discontinued handling of iron ore cargo though it fetched high revenues. The Railways then asked the AP government to develop Krishnapatnam as an alternative port to handle 10 million tonnes of ore annually. This came as a blessing in disguise to the government that was preparing a plan for Krishnapatnam.

N. P. Ramakrishna Reddy, the then secretary, Transport & Buildings, who played key role in drafting agreement with private party to construct the port on BOT basis, turned nostalgic saying that but for iron ore, the dream of building a port at Krishnapatnam would not have taken any shape. He said the Krishnapatnam example later led to the government opting private route to develop Kakinada and Gangavaram ports and Shamshabad international airport under his supervision.

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