The building of a mega port that promises to become the tenth largest in the world has been approved by the government of India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The deep water port will be located at Vadhavan on the country’s western coast. The port will further enhance the effectiveness of the International North South Transport Corridor (INSTC) that traverses Eurasia on a course between St Petersburg, Russia and Mumbai, India. The port would also will serve the India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor (IMEC), according to a Cabinet statement release on June 19, as reported by [Sputniknews]
Projected to cost some $9.1 billion, the port will include nine 1,000-meter long container terminals; four multipurpose berths; a Ro-Ro berth; and a dedicated berth for the vessels of the Indian Coast Guard. It will have a capacity to handle 298 million metric tons (MMT) annually, including some 23.2 million TEUs (twenty-foot equivalents) of containers. The port will be connected with the national rail and road network, and is expected to provide direct and indirect employment for up to 1.2 million people.
