Chowgule Group's Rs 1,000-crore port-and-ship-repair yard at Jaigad in Maharashtra will be open for vessel movement by March, a top official said.
"We are well-placed to start commercial operations by March. Majority of the work has been carried out or is in the process of being completed," Chowgule Ports and Infrastructure Chief Executive Atul Kulkarni told PTI here. The company, a part of the Chowgule Group which has interests in commercial shipping, is investing Rs 1,000 crore in the project that was started in 2008.
The investment is being funded through debt-equity ratio of 70:30 and the parent group is contributing the entire equity portion, Kulkarni added.
Over Rs 550 crore has already been deployed, while orders for the remaining amount have been placed. The project, named 'Angre Port' (after Shivaji's Naval Chief Kanhoji Angre), is located on a 270-acre site, privately acquired by the Chowgules in the 1990s, he said.
Four ships of up to 60,000 tonnes can be berthed at a time and the berths are 700-meter long, Kulkarni said, adding that a draught of 10 meter will be made available.
Two berths will be allocated for containers while liquid and dry cargo will get a berth each.
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Once the project is through, the company is looking at carrying out a second phase involving investment of Rs 300 crore to deepen the draught to 13 metre and increase the total berth size by 100 meter, he said.
The company is targeting South-West Maharashtra and Northern Karnataka region as these market imports fertilisers and exports sugar, maize, industrial alcohol and heavy machinery.