Call for interest to open India’s first mega transshipment port in Nicobar Islands by end of January

Kolkata:

Kolkata Port today said it is expected to issue Expression of Interest (EoI) for the country’s first mega container transshipment port at Galathea Bay in Great Nicobar Islands, a senior official said.

There is no major container transshipment port in India and all international container cargo has to go to Colombo, Singapore and Port Klang in Malaysia.

This Rs 17,000-crore port will help in the transportation of cargo from Bangladesh and Myanmar along the entire east coast of India, PL Harnadh, formerly chairman of Kolkata Port Trust, Shyama Prasad Mukherjee Port, Kolkata (SMPK), said here. “

Union Minister of State for Ports and Shipping Shantanu Thakur recently visited Andaman and Nicobar Islands to preview the development activities planned for the islanders along with port related infrastructure.

PL Harnadh said, “The government is planning to build a container transshipment port at Galathea Bay at the southern tip of Andaman and Nicobar Islands. SMPK will invite EOI from interested investors by the end of January.” Officials said the transshipment port would enable larger vessels to increase India’s share of maritime trade and create new job opportunities and save a lot of foreign exchange.

“The EOI will help us seek feedback from global port operators, maritime service majors and shipping liners,” PL Harnadh told reporters after a stakeholders’ meeting. After this process, a detailed proposal for the project will be put out for bidding. A detailed project report will be prepared.”

SMPK vice-chairman AK Mehra said the draft of the project has been sent to the Center for approval and the EOI will be issued after its arrival.

In the first phase, the jetty will have a length of 1.6 km and will have a capacity of 4.3 million TEU (tonne equivalent) containers. Later, this would be increased to 16 million TeU over the years.

Mehra said India has an international container transshipment terminal at Kochi in Kerala but has not taken off as expected, with a much lower scale than the proposed port in the Nicobar Islands.

Asked whether SMPK would be the executing agency for the project, officials said the port has now been asked to issue EOI, prepare a detailed project report and seek request for proposals.

The available natural depth at Galathea Bay will be 20 metres. It will offer two geographical advantages – proximity to the busy East-West international shipping route which can facilitate short transit and economies of scale, as well as deep natural water depth to accommodate the latest generation of mega-ships Is.

Harandh said the ambitious development plan for the Great Nicobar Islands by NITI Aayog, which includes an airport, a port, a rapid transport system and a business complex, could see a total investment of Rs 40,000 crore.

Galathea Bay is located at the southernmost tip of Indian Territory and its shores are a nesting site for leatherbacks, the world’s largest sea turtles.

According to reports, in January 2021, the National Board for Wildlife (NBWL) denotified the entire Galathea Bay Wildlife Sanctuary to clear environmental hurdles for the construction of the transshipment port.

Meanwhile, Thakur said projects worth Rs 900 crore are under implementation in SMPK and another Rs 3,300 crore are in the final stages of tendering.

By 2025, the capacity of Kolkata Port will be increased to 110 million tonnes from the current 87 million tonnes.

The Haldia Multi-Modal Terminal being implemented by the Inland Waterways Authority of India will be inaugurated on Friday. It will give a boost to cargo movement through inland waterways from Haldia port under SMPK to North East region and Bangladesh.