Karnataka invests big in maritime makeover
Karnataka advances ₹8,400 crore maritime upgrades with ports, shipbuilding, water metro, coastal ferries, and island development via public-private partnerships.
The Karnataka State Cabinet’s recent meeting in Mangaluru has given a major thrust to maritime initiatives worth over ₹8,400 crore in the region. The projects include port and shipbuilding infrastructure development, water metro and passenger ferry services, and integrated island development along the Karnataka coast.
Balachandra HC, CEO of the Karnataka Maritime Board, said at a recent CII-Mangaluru event that Karnataka’s maritime economy focuses on ports, logistics, shipbuilding, tourism, mobility, investment and environment, along with cargo handling.
He said a multi-purpose port and shipyard facility is proposed to be built at Manki, Uttara Kannada district, at an estimated cost of ₹6,925 crore. With cargo handling capacity of 15 million tonnes per annum, the port and the associated shipbuilding facility will be developed on a ‘design, build, finance, operate and transfer’ (DBFOT) basis. The Cabinet’s approval also covers a shipbuilding and ship repair facility at Gangolli, Udupi district, on a DBFOT basis and at an estimated investment of ₹322 crore.
Balachandra said the government wants to introduce a coastal ferry service from Mangaluru, Dakshina Kannada district, to Karwar, Uttara Kannada district, and the work could be taken up in four phases: Mangaluru to Maravanthe in Udupi district, Maravanthe to Murdeshwar in Uttara Kannada district, Murdeshwar to Gokarna, and Gokarna to Karwar. The Cabinet approved the decision to appoint a transaction advisor to conduct a feasibility study of the coastal ferry service project.
The Cabinet meeting gave in-principle approval for a water metro project on the Gurpur and Netravati rivers in Mangaluru, subject to an assessment of the technical and financial feasibility. Balachandra said the government also wants to develop 12 islands — seven in Uttara Kannada, three in Udupi and two in Dakshina Kannada — on a DBFOT basis.
He said the public-private partnership model would play an important role in taking these maritime projects forward as the partnership brings together government support and private capital, technology and operational expertise.
Source: BusinessLine Economy
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