India to start construction of Vadhavan port by 2020

November 19, 2019: Gopal Krishna, secretary, Ministry of Shipping, today announced in a CII event that the Government of India intends to develop an all-weather port at Wadhavan, 140 kilometer north to Mumbai. The construction of the port will begin in 2020 and will have nine berths for large container ships. The government wants India to be one of the top ten global container port hubs.

'We intend to develop all-weather Vadhavan port north of Mumbai; approval expected in 2-3 mths, construction to start by Dec 2020. It'll have 9 berths for the largest container ships, bringing India in Top 10 of global container ports': Mr Gopal Krishna, Secretary @shipmin_india pic.twitter.com/HYHKkhskI7

— CII Energy (@CIIEnergy) November 19, 2019

Krishna also said that the country is raising its ship recycling capacity by 40 percent by 2024 and wants to become a global leader in the segment.

“India aims to be a global leader in ship-recycling: capacity being raised from 5mn GT (2018, 25% of global) to 9mn GT (2024, 35-40%). Recycling of Ships Bill, 2019 will align law w international conventions: focus on the environment, worker safety,” the CII tweet reads.

Krishna also shared his thoughts on the government’s plan to develop inland waterways particularly for the northeastern region. The inland water transport fairway in the Ganges will be ready by 2020 and the Eastern Waterway Connectivity Transport Grid will give the North-East access to Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh and Myanmar.