GMR Infra to build commercial port near Kakinada

HYDERABAD: GMR Infrastructure has announced securing the contract to build a greenfield commercial port near Kakinada through the Swiss Challenge mode. In a statement, the infrastructure firm said that the all-weather, deep-draft and multi-cargo port will come up at some 30 km north of Kakinada, located as one of the nodes of the proposed Visakhapatnam-Chennai Industrial Corridor.

The port, spread across 1,950 acres with an initial capacity of 16 million tonnes (mt) once operational, is expected to become the gateway to the east coast of India, the company said. The Andhra Pradesh government will get a revenue share of 2.7% for a period of 30 years in the terms of the agreement. Under this, the AP government will provide external infrastructure that include roads connecting to the nearest highway, water and power supply to the port boundary.

The port, involving an investment of over Rs 2,000 crore, is expected to take-off in two years from the zero date, said a government official who did not want to be identified.

BVN Rao, business chairman, transportation and urban infrastructure, GMR Infrastructure, said, “This will augur a huge leap forward in upturning the economic development graph of the region while spiralling up our Port’s potential to attract even more prestigious clients, taking the project valuations up by many folds.”

GMR group is developing the Kakinada Special Investment Region (KSIR) as a world-class port-based multi-product special investment region. The industrial park, spread over 8,500 acres, will house various industries including petrochemicals, food and agro processing, discrete manufacturing, electronics, renewable energy, among others, offering a combination of export-oriented and domestic market-oriented economic zones.