In a swift move by the State government over the proposed port at Machilipatnam, it has asked the Krishna district administration to prepare a detailed report on the latest prices of the land that is to be acquired for the port.
“We have prepared a report estimating the cost of the required land for the port in the wake of the prevailing situation in residuary State. It includes the prices and likely fluctuations in the land value,” highly placed sources told The Hindu . The sources also confirmed that the report was submitted to the government in February this year .
Of late, this report on the land value in the strategic areas suitable for the estimated Rs. 1,860-crore project is likely to help the authorities concerned to decide whether it needs to be taken up on a war footing or not.
In April 2008, then Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy laid the foundation stone for the port in Machilipatnam and the works were awarded to the Mytas Infra. However, the contract was cancelled in 2010, following a controversy over the location of the port. It was later awarded to a consortium led by the Navayuga Engineering Company Limited.
There has been no progress of the project till date owing to the confusion over how much land was to be allotted to develop the port. The State government had agreed to allot above 6,000 acres. But, it was later scaled down to 5,200 acres based on the recommendations made by the Indian Ports’ Association.
“The final decision on the exact land to be allotted for the project is yet to be taken by the government based on the land value report,” sources added.
ImpactThe current year would witness the operation of the port if every thing goes smooth as planned in 2008. The immediate impact of the delay was the proposal to develop a mega thermal power plant near Machilipatnam during the 11th five-year plan was put on hold.
