Greenfield commercial port to boost industrial activities in Kakinada SEZ

Jan 5, 2019: A ground-breaking ceremony for a greenfield commercial port near Kakinada in Andhra Pradesh was recently held by GMR Kakinada Gateway Port, part of the GMR Group. Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu laid the foundation stone for the commercial port, building of which would cost around Rs 3,000 crore.

The Kakinada Gateway Port is promoted by Kakinada SEZ. The AP government had inked a MoU with Haldia Petrochemicals for a refinery/ petrochemical project in Kakinada SEZ with an investment of Rs 60,000 crore.

GMR Kakinada Gateway Port had signed the concession agreement with the AP government in November to build the port on a design, build, finance, operate and transfer basis. The port, coming up over 1,811 acres of land owned by Kakinada special economic zone and AP government would lease 133 acres of seafront land for the period of concession.

The agreement has been awarded with a concession fee of 2.7 percent of revenue share in the first 30 years, 5.4 percent of revenue share from 31st to 40th year and 10.8 percent of revenue share from the 41st to 50th years.

The upcoming commercial port will handle coal, general cargo, and liquid cargoes over the concession period, GMR Kakinada Gateway Port said in a statement.