Great Nicobar Transhipment Port: Sonowal Slams Opposition

New Delhi, Sep 16 (PTI) Union minister Sarbananda Sonowal has said that all necessary clearances have been taken for Rs 41,000-crore international transhipment port project at Great Nicobar Island in the Bay of Bengal, pointing out that the opposition to the mega project smells of 'vested interest'.

The detailed project report (DPR) of Great Nicobar transhipment port is being finalised by the government, and it will go ahead with the implementation of the project in the next few months.

"Our aim is to make India a developed nation...Those who are opposing the Great Nicobar transhipment port project, is because of vested interest," Sonowal told a group of journalists.

Great Nicobar Transhipment port project has been under scrutiny over environmental concerns.

"The government has obtained all necessary clearances for the project and 5-6 players have shown interest for the international transhipment port project," he added.

Last month, Congress leader Jairam Ramesh had urged Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav to suspend all clearances accorded to the mega infra project in Great Nicobar Island and had called for its thorough and impartial review, including by the parliamentary committees concerned.

In a letter to Yadav, former environment minister Ramesh had said the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change must fulfil its dharma, and not allow itself to be reduced to becoming a project proponent, especially when the project has decidedly "disastrous" human, social and ecological consequences.

The project can have "catastrophic ecological and human consequences" and has been pushed through by violating due process and sidestepping legal and constitutional provisions protecting tribal communities, he had claimed.

Larsen and Toubro Ltd, Afcons Infrastructure Ltd, and JSW Infrastructure Ltd are among the companies that have submitted EoIs for the international transhipment port project.

The proposed port in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands will have the ultimate capacity to handle 16 million containers per year, and in the first phase, to be commissioned by 2028 at a cost of Rs 18,000 crore, it will handle more than 4 million containers.

Other projects planned around the transhipment port include an airport, a township and a power plant.

The project is located on the international trade route, with existing transhipment terminals like Singapore, Klang and Colombo in proximity.

The project focuses on three key drivers, which can result in making it a leading container transhipment port -- strategic location in terms of proximity (40 nautical miles) with the international shipping trade route, availability of natural water depth of over 20m and carrying capacity of transhipment cargo from all the ports in the proximity, including Indian ports.

The proposed facility is envisaged to be developed in four phases.

The estimated cost for Phase 1 of the proposed transhipment port is around Rs 18,000 crore, which includes the construction of breakwaters, dredging, reclamation, berths, storage areas, building and utilities, procurement and installation of equipment and development of the port colony, with core infrastructure going to be developed with the government support.

Public-private partnership (PPP) will be encouraged for this project via landlord mode. The PPP concessionaire will have the flexibility to develop a storage area, container handling equipment and other infrastructure based on the concessionaire's own market and business assessment, subject to the minimum guaranteed traffic.

The concessionaire would be awarded a long-term PPP concession of 30 to 50 years (based on requirement), will be responsible for the provision(s) of port services and shall have the rights to levy, collect and retain charges from port users.

Currently, nearly 75 per cent of India's transhipped cargo is handled at ports outside India.

Colombo, Singapore and Klang handle more than 85 per cent of this cargo, with more than half of it handled at Colombo port.