States chief secretary LNS Mukundan said this at a national seminar on `Port policy and investment opportunities', organised by Confederation of Indian Industry (CII).

He said the issue was discussed between senior officials of both the sides in New Delhi on Thursday to decide on the pre-conditions for a joint venture. The state has suggested setting up a (SPV) with both the state government and the railways sharing equity, to implement the project, as part of the Rs 116,000-crore infrastructure projects under `Vision 2010'.

Gujarat having a long coastline of nearly 1,600 km, the state has already projected the need of providing rail linkages to the upcoming ports. While Pipavav and Mundhra have already become operational as the country's first ports in the private and joint sector respectively, Dahej and Dholera are likely to bedeveloped soon.