The proposed modernisation of the fishing harbour is on course and the Union government has already sanctioned ₹100 crore for it.
The Union government has also assured to scale up the sanction to ₹150 crore, if the modernisation proves profitable to the fishing community and value is added to the existing facility, said Visakhapatnam Port Trust Chairman K. Rama Mohana Rao.
Speaking to The Hindu here on Saturday, he said that the idea is to develop the fishing community and the focus is on giving the right infrastructure that would develop them.
Apart from taking up repairs at the existing harbour, as part of the project the VPT would modernise the loading and the unloading facility, construct an auction hall for fish sale, develop a finger jetty if possible, a resting hall with all facilities for the crew and set up proper drainage and water facility.
But the important part will be to develop a state-of-the-art cold storage facility with a fish processing centre.
“This would add value to the fishing community. People can utilise the facility to add value to their product and we would rope in a few players under the public private partnership (PPP) mode,” he said.
The VPT Chairman said that efforts are on to check the feasibility of building a floating jetty.
