A view of the New Mangaluru Port Authority. , Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
Gaurav Gupta, Additional Chief Secretary, Infrastructure Development, Ports and Inland Water Transport, said on July 14 that the state government should soon issue the Karnataka Maritime Policy.
Speaking virtually from Bengaluru during the inaugural session of the first edition of the Karnataka Ports Summit – 2023, organized by the Karnataka chapter of the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), he said: “The Karnataka maritime policy has been formulated with a view to develop ports.” Sector and it should be released very soon.
Speaking about the Karnataka Maritime Board, he said that 26 marine improvement projects have been sanctioned to the state under the Sagarmala program of the central government. The government intends to develop Keni and Bellikeri ports in Uttara Kannada to increase their handling capacity to 30 million tonnes per annum.
The theme of the conference was ‘Ports – the backbone of the Indian economy and self-reliant India’.
employment opportunities
Underlining the importance of ports, New Mangalore Port Authority (NMPA) chairman Venkata Ramana Akkaraju said that the customs department earned an annual revenue of Rs 5,190 crore from NMPA alone. NMPA created direct and indirect employment opportunities for 10,000 people. Of them, 3,500 persons are contract employees of the port while 350 persons are regular employees. Others are indirect beneficiaries of port activities.
A cruise ship Seven Seas Explorer arrives at the New Mangaluru Port Authority in Mangaluru on December 2, 2022. Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
Referring to cruise tourism, he said the port was handling cruise ships at negligible cost and eight cruise ships called at the port in the last cruise season. The money spent by tourists on the land tour after disembarking contributes to the local economy.
“The port will increase the number of immigration windows from 24 to 70. We are planning a dedicated cruise gate so that cruise passengers have a better experience,” he said.
transportation of iron ore through rake
The chairman said that from this financial year the port will manage iron ore. “We have taken a conscious decision not to handle iron ore transported by road (to the port) in view of environmental issues. Only iron ore transported through rakes will be handled. This will reduce environmental problems and damage to roads.
“The services of a trans-shipper will be availed for loading the iron ore from the port into barges and onto the vessels standing at the outer anchorage. This is to reduce pollution at the port,” he said. The Chairman said that a berth would be dedicated to handle cooking gas at the port.
Dakshina Kannada deputy commissioner MP Mullai Muhillan said a new industrial area would be developed on 1,000 acres near Mulki.
Vijayakrishnan Venkatesan, President, CII Karnataka State Council and Managing Director, Kennametal India Limited, President, CII Mangaluru Chapter and Praveen Kumar Kalbhavi, CEO and Managing Director, Novigo Solutions Inc., spoke at the event.