With export of iron ore becoming uncertain, Goa based Mormugao Port Trust (MPT) is now focusing on diversification of the cargo.
MPT officials today submitted an expansion plan to Union Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari during his visit to the port town.
The port has chalked out a comprehensive plan which includes expansion of existing facility to facilitate the diverse form of cargo, like coal, wooden chips and granite.
"We need to increase the capacity of the port. Almost 80 per cent of the cargo movement from this port was dependent on iron ore export but it does not exist now," Gadkari told reporters after signing tri-party agreement over construction of a road linking the MPT to nearby Verna industrial estate.
Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parikkar was also present.
Gadkari said that MPT has already given the expansion plan which would be referred to international consultants, before giving green signal to go ahead with the project.
If expansion plans are approved, it would be ensured that the the port would be useful for the economy of the state, he added.
The Union government is also working on a possibility of a satellite port between Maharashtra and Karnataka near Goa so that facilities (ports) from all the three states can be linked up increasing the inland waterway traffic.
In a bid to ensure that the same number of ships bring in better business, the Union ministry has suggested that a draft of the port up to 20 metres be dredged so that vessels up to two lakh tons weight can be anchored.
"The dredging the port to increase the draft width would cost Rs 500 crore. The ports have been advised to have private participation. It would be PPP project," he said.
Gadkari said that the proposal (for dredging work) has already been submitted to the Ministry of Environment and Forest for clearance.
