VPA to pick up 14% equity in Rs.21,500-crore Bahuda Port project mooted under joint venture with PPA, Odisha Maritime Board

As part of its ambitious plans to develop a Special Economic Zone at Mulapeta Port now under development near here by investing Rs.1500 crore, Visakhapatnam Port Authority (VPA) has decided to pick up 14% equity on a greenfield port project at Bahuda in Odisha, neighbouring Andhra Pradesh.

Paradip Port Authority (PPA) will lead the project with 51% stake in the proposed Special Purpose Vehicle followed by 26% by Odisha Maritime Board, VPA 14% and 9% by Sagarmala Finance Corporation Limited. The SPV will look after creating the required infrastructure, associated facilities and ancillary development in Bahuda Port project.

The MoU for the project was signed at Bhavnagar on Saturday during the visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Minister for Ports, Shipping and Waterways (MoPSW) Sarbananda Sonowal.

The project, as part of Maritime India Vision-2030 and PM Gati Shakti National Master Plan, is envisaged at a cost of Rs.21,500 crore to have a cargo handling capacity of 150 million tonnes, a senior official of VPA told Bizz Buzz.

The proposed port will act as a satellite port of Paradip Port. The work will start once land allotment is done by both Andhra Pradesh and Odisha Governments. Most of the land required for the port are salt lands.

After signing the MoU, PPA Chairman, who earlier worked as Deputy Chairman of VPA, P.L. Harnadh said Bahuda Port will function as a major port at a strategic location on the East Coast.

According to indications, the land survey is over and the Detailed Project Report (DPR) will be awarded to a suitable firm in the next few days.

VPA is one among four major ports which picked up 73.47% stake of Government of India in the Visakhapatnam-headquartered Dredging Corporation of India Limited (DCIL) in 2019. The stake transfer took place for an amount of Rs.1,056 crore. Other ports which have strategic control in DCIL are PPA, Jawaharlal Nehru and Deen Dayal Port Authorities. VPA has slightly higher stake with 19.44% stake in DCIL, a listed company, compared three other major ports.

Andhra Pradesh Government has proposed a port and maritime industrial cluster at Dugarajapatnam in Nellore district with a potential investment of Rs.26,000 crore and sought a Central grant of Rs.3,500 crore. VPA, according to MoPSW, will be one of the equity partners in the project.