Work on Machilipatnam port to start

Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy would formally commence the works for the construction of the Machilipatnam Port, the place where river Krishna joins the Bay of Bengal on May 22nd.

The port will have four dedicated berths with a capacity to handle 35 million tons of cargo. The State government has taken up the project at a cost of Rs 5,156 crore. Officials said the port, once completed, would transform the district as it would mark the beginning of the expansion of commercial activities.

Andhra Pradesh government has decided to set three major Greenfield ports in various parts of the state one in north central and southern part of the state in bid to give a boost to economic development. Anhdra Pradesh has major ports in Visakhapatnam, Gangavaram, Kakinada and Krishnapatnam.

The port is expected to be ready in 24 to 30 months.  Four berths would be set up for handling imports and exports of general cargo, coal and multipurpose containers. Six more berths would be added and capacity would be enhanced to 115 million tons per annum as per the growing traffic in future.

Machilipatnam Port would cater to exports of fertilizers, coal, cooking oil, containers, agricultural products, cement, granite, cement clinker, iron ore from districts of Guntur, Krishna, NTR, East and West Godavari in Andhra Pradesh and from Khammam, Karimnagar, Adilabad, Nalgonda and Warangal districts in neighbouring Telangana.

Authorities explained that a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) —Machilipatnam Port Development Corporation Limited— was established in February 2020 to take up the construction of the Port.  The port obtained environmental clearances on February 28, 2023 and permits from the Andhra Pradesh Pollution Control Board were obtained on April 13, 2023.

 Land acquisition of 1,923 acres was completed in March 2023.