Government needs to have a comprehensive plan for development of cargo handling and evacuation infrastructure in tandem while drawing up plans for building new ports along the coast. Speakers at the two-day East Coast Maritime Business Summit that concluded here on Friday said that the existing infrastructure was inadequate and there was a need to plan for future capacity expansion. This was particularly relevant to Andhra Pradesh as the State government under the leadership of Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu intends to build 14 new ports along the 972-km coastline of the State.
The supporting infrastructure was not adequate in the State and “if you build ports in a hurry, there is every danger that they may become mere stock yards or stacking yards,” MD of Sravan Shipping and former chairman of CII Vizag chapter G. Sambasiva Rao said, speaking at the summit organised by Maritime Gateway magazine.
VPT Chairman M.T. Krishna Babu also spoke.
“The ports in the State should gear up to handle the low volume, high value, high risk cargo like seafood,” president of Seafood Exporters' Association of India V. Padmanabham said.
Ports in the State should gear up to handle the low volume, high value, and high risk cargo
V. Padmanabham
President of Seafood Exporters’ Association of India
