In a bid to bring down considerably the transport costs, the Andhra Pradesh government is mulling to strengthen the water-based transport facilities thus taking the natural advantage of its 996 km of coastline.
A comprehensive port development plan was prepared to promote 14 non-major ports. It has already been notified these non-major ports and now the government proposes to speed up developing the ports, which is relevant owing to the increasing trend of fuel costs.
For instance, the cost of transporting one tonne of material using waterways will be 0.29 paise as against Re 1 by road and 0.69 paise through rail, officials said. As per the official projections, the cargo demand is expected to increase to 120 mt by the year 2011-12 and 200 mt by 2019-20. As of now, the state handles about 22 mt of cargo through non-major ports, the second in the country.
The government is also seriously considering to improve the inland-water transport system, sources pointed out. Initially, it plans to develop and strengthen the inland water transport network with the Buckingham canal and Krishna-Godavari delta canal system.
To further strengthen the transport situation, the government has proposed to adopt an open policy encouraging the private sector to enter into the port development activity. ?We are looking for large scale private sector participation in design, building, finance, operations and management of the ports,? official source said.
As a special incentive to the investors, the government has plans to allow the private management to draft their own employment and other policies and need not be governed by the rules and policies in other Indian ports, official sources said. Besides providing fresh water, power and road connectivity, the government is also committed to offering help in acquiring the land by the investors, sources added.
While Krishnapatnam port will be operational in July, which will be inaugurated by UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi, Gangavaram port is expected to commence operations in August 2008. The Kakinada port, Machilipatnam, Vadarevu and Nizampatnam ports are being developed by L&T consortium, Maytas consortium and Ras-Al-Khaimah Investment Authority respectively. The remaining non-major ports include: Bhavanapadu, Meghavaram, Kalingapatnam, Bheemunipatnam, Muthyalammapalem, Kakinada SEZ, S Yanam and Narsapur.