Mumbai, Aug 30, 2024, IANS

Mumbai, Aug 30 (IANS) Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that he looks forward to his visit to Mumbai and Palghar in Maharashtra on Friday for a series of engagements, including laying the foundation stone for the ambitious Vadhvan Port and addressing the Global Fintech Fest-2024. “I look forward to being among the people of Maharashtra...| the PM said in a post on X "...I will take part in the Global Fintech Fest 2024 at around 11 AM. This platform showcases India's strides in the world of Fintech and brings together key stakeholders of the sector. Thereafter, I will be in Palghar for the foundation stone laying programme of the Vadhvan Port project. This is a very important project, signifying our commitment to port-led development and to the progress of Maharastra,” said PM Modi in the post. In Palghar, PM Modi will perform the ground-breaking ceremony for the prestigious greenfield Vadhvan Port, coming up for Rs 76,220 crore, including land acquisition costs. Expected to become a growth engine in the coming years along India’s western coast, on completion, the all-weather Vadhvan Port with a deep draft will be one of the top ten seaports in the world. The PM will preside over the foundation stone laying ceremony at CIDCO Grounds in Palghar around 140 km from downtown Mumbai, near the Maharashtra-Gujarat state boundary. The project was delayed for decades owing to protests by local farmers, fishers and greens, and is being built by the Vadhvan Port Project Ltd (VPPL) -- an SPV formed jointly by the Jawaharlal Nehru Port Authority and Maharashtra Maritime Board with a shareholding of 74 per cent - 26 per cent respectively. The project would comprise the core infrastructure, terminals, and other commercial infrastructure in the PPP mode, plus road links with the National Highways, and rail connections including the Dedicated Rail Freight Corridor. These include nine terminals each to be one km long, four multipurpose berths, including the coastal berth, four liquid cargo berths, a coast guard berth and a Ro-Ro berth. The project will see the reclamation of 1,448 hectares of the Arabian Sea and building a 10.14 km offshore breakwater and container/cargo storage zone. The port will create a cumulative capacity of 298 million metric tons per annum, including around 23.2 TEUs of container handling capacity, in alignment with the PM Gati Shakti initiative. The capacities created shall aid the EXIM trade flow through IMEEC (India Middle East Europe Economic Corridor) and INSTC (International North South Transportation Corridor). The world-class maritime facilities shall boost PPPs and leverage efficiencies and modern tech to create state-of-the-art terminals equipped to handle mainline mega-vessels plying on international shipping lines connecting the Far East, Middle East, Europe, Africa and the Americas. The Vadhvan Port would create job opportunities for around 1.20 lakh people and contribute to the local and national economies. Besides, PM Modi will launch 218 fisheries projects worth Rs 1,560 crore to give a fillip to local infrastructure and more than five lakh jobs for the fisheries sector, the development of Integrated Aquaparks, etc. The PM will set rolling the National Roll Out of Vessel Communication and Support System costing Rs 360 crore, by which 1,00,000 transponders shall be installed in phases on mechanised/motorised fishing vessels in 13 coastal states. PM Modi shall be joined by Union Ministers Sarbananda Sonawal, S.P. Singh Baghel and George Kurian, Governor C.P. Radhakrishnan, CM Eknath Shinde, Deputy CMs Devendra Fadnavis and Ajit Pawar, and other senior officials.