Union Minister of Ports, Shipping and Waterways and AYUSH Sarbananda Sonowal on Friday inaugurated and laid the foundation stone on Friday for various projects, worth ₹ 231.21 crore.
The most important project was the development of land for VOC Port-based industries to come up on 1,300 acres on an outlay of ₹100 crore under the Tuticorin Speedz Coastal Employment initiative. Another important feature was the formal inauguration of the inner harbour development works to be executed at the cost of ₹65.53 crore.
The inner harbour development includes widening of the VOC Port’s entrance for receiving wider and bigger vessels and the dredging of the widened portion.
Speaking on the occasion, Mr. Sarbananda Sonowal stated that the Government of India was taking all efforts to reduce the logistics costs, which would facilitate India to achieve its well-defined goal of being a $5 trillion economy by 2025.
He hoped that the ‘Inclusive Green Port Initiatives’ taken by the VOC Port would set high standards across all major ports of the country to increase the share of renewable energy to more than 60% by 2030 as it had started generating green power for meeting its power needs.
The Minister affirmed that the Union Government would take all efforts to transform VOC Port as the ‘Transhipment Hub of the East Coast of India’ by developing the outer harbour project as announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
“India will become the most powerful and the self-reliant nation in 2047 with the foundation being laid by the Prime Minister, who is taking everyone along in developing the nation within a short span of just eight years,” he said.
He lauded the performance, cargo-handling efficiency and growth of VOC Port and also Tamil Nadu for its greater contribution to national economy, science and technology development.
Mr. Sarbananda Sonowal also inaugurated the upgraded coal yard road and drainage system established at a cost of ₹16 crore, Fixed Fire Fighting System at oil jetty, installed at a cost of ₹18.79 crore and the strengthened 22 KV HT electrical network on an outlay of ₹1.15 crore.
He also unveiled the ‘Smart Port Projects’, India’s first indigenously developed Vessel Traffic System at a cost of ₹2.29 crore. The development of indigenous system would eliminate the need of relying on costly imported software solutions. He also inaugurated the Optic Fibre connectivity at a cost of ₹1.15 crore.
He also laid the foundation stone for 2 MW Wind Farm, 400 KW Solar Rooftop Solar Power Plant, public EV charging stations at a total cost of ₹26.93 crore.
The minister also inaugurated Ease of Doing Business Projects, Drive through Container Scanner and 140 MT Electronic in-motion weigh bridge, all at a total cost of ₹46.51 crore.
On the welfare front, the Minister inaugurated the medical oxygen generator plant, and laid the foundation stone for Integrative Medicine & AYUSH Unit and VOC Maritime Heritage Museum established at a total cost of ₹1.78 crore.
Chairman of VOC Port Authority T.K. Ramachandran, District Collector K. Senthil Raj and stakeholders of the Port participated in the function.
After reviewing the performance of the Port, the Minister discussed with the Port authorities various ongoing and future capacity augmentation initiatives and other proposals for enhancing the productivity of the Port. He inspected the Port facilities and took stock of the infrastructure and upcoming projects and interacted with various stakeholders of the Port and shipping fraternity.
