‘Proposal to set up second major port in A.P. under consideration’

Expert panel examining alternatives: Shipping Secretary

January 26, 2019 12:46 am | Updated 12:46 am IST - VISAKHAPATNAM

Union Shipping Secretary Gopala Krishna discussing with VPT Chairman M.T Krishnababu and Deputy Chairman P.L Harnadh at the inaugural of a 500 KW rooftop solar power project in Visakhapatnam on Friday.

Union Shipping Secretary Gopala Krishna discussing with VPT Chairman M.T Krishnababu and Deputy Chairman P.L Harnadh at the inaugural of a 500 KW rooftop solar power project in Visakhapatnam on Friday.

Even as the proposal of setting up the second major port in A.P. is hanging in the balance after the one planned at Dugarajapatnam was quashed on the feasibility ground, Union Shipping Secretary Gopal Krishna said that the Centre had not given up on it.

“The second major port proposal in A.P. is still under consideration and a technical committee of experts is looking into it,” Mr. Gopal Krishna said here on Friday, after inaugurating a 500 KW rooftop grid solar power plant at the Port Stadium.

At present, the State has only one major port in Visakhapatnam. The Dugarajapatnam project could not materialise as the expert committee had said that it would not be feasible. However, alternative sites in the State are being considered, he said.

To a query whether an alternative site had been suggested by the State government at Ramayyapatnam in Prakasam district, he said that no such proposal had been received. However, VPT Chairman M.T Krishna Babu said that the State government was taking up the port proposed at Ramayyapatnam on its own.

The Shipping Secretary lauded the efforts of the Visakhapatnam port in taking up green energy initiatives.

Green energy

“The port has already set up a 10 MW solar power project. The new 500 KW rooftop solar power plant is being undertaken by the ReNew Solar Energy Private Limited. We incur no cost as we have given the rooftop on lease for 25 years. We will buy power from the company at ₹3.93 per unit. At present, we are buying power from the APEPDCL at ₹12 per unit. The new project will help us save money,” he explained.

Answering to a query, Mr. Krishna Babu said the port consumes 1 crore units of power per year while the VPT generates 1.5 crore units through its captive solar units. The rest is being sold to companies such as Essar and Vedanta which have undertaken port-related works.

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