With proposed investments worth ₹57,000 crore, Union Minister of Ports, Shipping & Waterways, Sarbananda Sonowal on Tuesday announced major initiatives to boost the capacity at Kandla Port in Gujarat. The projects announced include a mega shipbuilding project and a new cargo terminal project.

The proposed ₹30,000 crore new Mega Shipbuilding Facility at the Kandla Port will develop technical capability in the country to manufacture big Very Large Crude Carrier (VLCC) or similar class of vessels with capacity up to 3,20,000 tonnes DWT. The facility will have capacity to produce 32 new ships and repair 50 old ships every year. Spread over an area of more than 8,000 acres, the new facility will have components like Marina, Fishing Harbour, Townships and Marine Industrial Cluster, stated an official release.

Second project

The second project announced by the minister is a new 135 MTPA cargo terminal outside the Kandla creek that will be built at a cost of ₹27,000 crore. Business Line had in November 2024 reported about this proposed cargo terminal that will be developed outside of the Kandla Creek, towards Tuna. This new terminal will be developed using the 6 kms available waterfront. It will handle all existing cargo jetties handling dry bulk cargo, with modern cargo handling equipment and more efficient evacuation systems. This will allow Kandla to improve the turn-around time of vessels carrying liquid cargo. Speaking on the occasion, Sarbananda Sonowal stated, “The new facility at Kandla Port will not only significantly augment its operations but also enhance efficiency through the segregation of dry and liquid cargo.”

The Deendayal Port Authority (DPA) has also been working on a number of other projects to enhance the capacity of Kandla port significantly. A new mega cargo terminal, with a capacity of 2.19 million TEU, is being constructed at Tuna Tekra under PPP mode. A new Multi Cargo Terminal at Tuna Tekra is also under consideration. This will add 18.33 MTPA to the existing capacity. Three new oil jetties are in the process of being constructed, which will further add 10 MTPA capacity. One Single Buoy Mooring (SBM) and 2 product jetties are also being constructed at Vadinar. This will further shore up the liquid cargo handling capacity by 24.5 MTPA. A Ship Repair Facility project at Vadinar is also under consideration which will be capable of servicing 32 vessels per year.