New Mangalore Port Trust (NMPT) is committed to national development and construction of fisheries harbour at Kulai near here is a proof. The project that is being taken up under Sagarmala will see the Union government, NMPT and state government contribute 50%, 45% and 5% respectively of project cost of Rs 230 crore, said P C Parida, chairman, NMPT. It will be a state of the art fishery harbour with modern facilities. Hoisting the national flag at NMPT on Thursday, Parida said as an endeavour towards going green, the port has commissioned a 4.35-MW solar plant and is in the process of installing another 3.5MW solar plant.
These two plants will ensure that the port meets its total power requirement from non-conventional energy sources, reducing dependency on grid or captive power, he said, adding this investment will fetch the port good returns.During the financial year, the port has registered a growth of 15% in total throughput and 24% in containers. Out of the 30 cruise vessels schedules to be handled during the current financial year, the port has already handled 18 cruise vessels with 16,259 cruise passengers. To reduce the road congestion and increase coastal trade, the Port has dedicated berth number three with the draft of 9.5 metres for coastal vessels and has developed 30 acres of land for this.
Under ease of doing business, the port health office and testing laboratories have started operation, he said. The RFID project is in the trial stage and will be implemented within a month. On implementation, there will be seamless movement of vehicles and cargo to the port. To give a fillip to container traffic, the port has commissioned two additional reach stackers. Contained yard will come in 10 acres land and two warehouses will be constructed.
Source:TOI
