This proposed port, located around 130 km north of Mumbai near Dahanu on Maharashtra’s west coast, will be an all-weather Greenfield deep-draft major port off the Arabian Sea. It will be the 13th port in India with a capacity of around 298 million tonnes and is set to be the biggest in the country. Vadhavan Port, on completion, will be one of the top 10 ports in the world.
The port is a collaboration between Vadhavan Port Project Ltd (VPPL), associated to JNPT, and Maharashtra Maritime Board (MMB) with a shareholding of 74% and 26%, respectively.
The Maharashtra government first proposed the Vadhavan Port in 1997, but the plan got shelved in 1997-98 after local villagers protested. It was brought back to the table in 2015 under the government’s ‘Sagarmala Programme’, which aims to give a push to a port-led economy.
These world-class maritime terminal facilities will promote PPP and leverage efficiencies and modern technologies to create state-of-the-art terminals capable of handling mainline mega vessels plying on international shipping lines between the Far East, Europe, the West Asia and Africa.
It will have four multi-purpose berths including four liquid bulk berths, one RO-RO berth, a Small Craft, a Coast Guard berth and a Railway terminal.
The project involves the reclamation of 1,448 hectares of area in the sea and the construction of 10.14 km of offshore breakwater and container/cargo storage areas. The Vadhavan Port has a deep draft of 20 metres and is expected to handle 23.2 million TEUs a year.
The foundation stone has been laid and first phase will be ready by 2029. Port is being understood as a gateway for the future International North-South Transportation Corridor (INSTC) and India-Middle East-Europe Corridor (IMEC) and that is why it is considered as a strategic game changer.
IMEC – India Middle East Europe economic corridor
The primary objective of IMEC corridor is to promote trade, investment, and infrastructure development along the route, which will ultimately stimulate the economic growth of the participating countries. The India Middle East Europe economic corridor route includes the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Israel, and Greece. It was considered and approved in the last G 20 Meeting at New Delhi
The corridor holds significance by providing an alternative trade route to traditional sea routes that could be affected by geopolitical tensions or disruption. The main aim is to diversify trade and reduce dependency on the existing transportation channels. It is alternative to Suez canal trade route. It is scheduled to be completed by 2049. However, many factors can delay the project. Including the current hostile war situation in Israel and the Gulf region.
INSTC offers an alternative to the traditional Suez Canal route, reducing transit times to around 25 days from the usual 45 days and lowering freight costs by 30%. It also provides a strategic buffer against disruptions in the Suez Canal, as seen during the 2021 blockage and recent geopolitical conflicts.
For the first time, Russia has sent two trains loaded with coal to India via the INSTC. These trains travelled from the Kemerovo region in Russia through Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan to Iran’s Bandar Abbas port, and then to India. However, it will take time to stabilise and become part of the main stream trade route for international cargo to move between Europe and Asia.
(Article by Vinod Asthana VC CILT, pics have been sourced from different journals)
