The centre has notified the international trans-shipment hub at Galathea Bay in the Andaman & Nicobar Islands as a ‘Major Port’. With this, the proposed Rs 44,000 crore mega project is officially under the administrative control of the union ports, shipping, and waterways ministry. It is also eligible for central funding and will be developed under the public-private partnership model.
India currently has 12 operational Major Ports controlled by the central government and another 200 non-major ones governed by the states. Out of the 200 non-major ports, around 65 handle cargo while the others are used by fishing vessels and by small ferries to carry passengers.
Once operational, the Galathea Bay project will help capture a large share of transshipped cargo which is handled at ports outside India.
The proposed facility is envisaged to be developed in four phases with Phase 1 is proposed to be commissioned in the year 2028 with handling capacity of ~ 4 Million TEUs, increasing to 16 Million TEUs in the ultimate stage of development by 2058.
It has also been decided to develop three Mega Ports – Vadhavan- Jawaharlal Nehru Port Authority (JNPA) Cluster, Paradip Port, and Deendayal Port. These will upgraded into Mega Ports with a capacity of over 300 million tonnes per annum (MTPA).
Under the Maritime Amrit Kaal Vision 2047, four port clusters with a capacity of more than 300 MTPA and two with capacity more than 500 MTPA will be developed.