New Delhi: The Union cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday approved multiple infrastructure projects, including development of a greenfield port at Vadhavan in Maharashtra at a cost of Rs 76,220 crore and offshore wind energy projects in Tamil Nadu and Gujarat.
When completed Vadhavan Port will be one of the top 10 ports in the world. The new port located in Palghar district of Maharashtra will be constructed by Vadhavan Port Project Limited (VPPL), a special purpose vehicle (SPV) formed by Jawaharlal Nehru Port Authority (JNPA) and Maharashtra Maritime Board (MMB) with a shareholding of 74 per cent and 26 per cent, respectively.
Briefing the media after the cabinet meeting, Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said Vadhavan Port project is estimated to generate 12 lakh new jobs.
The port will have nine container terminals, each 1000 meters long, four multipurpose berths, including the coastal berth, four liquid cargo berths, a Ro-Ro berth, and a Coast Guard berth. The project involves the reclamation of 1,448 hectares of area in the sea and the construction of 10.14 km of offshore breakwater and container/cargo storage areas.
The project will create a cumulative capacity of 298 million metric tonnes (MMT) per annum, including around 23.2 million TEUs (Twenty-foot equivalents) of container handling capacity.
The cabinet also approved financial support of Rs 7,453 crore for the development of offshore wind energy projects in Tamil Nadu and Gujarat.
“Union cabinet has taken a landmark decision by approving India's first offshore wind energy project. These will be 1GW offshore wind projects, 500 MW each (off the coast of Gujarat and Tamil Nadu),” said Vaishnaw.
Offshore wind is a source of renewable energy which offers several advantages over onshore wind and solar projects, such as higher adequacy & reliability, lower storage requirement and higher employment potential.
The projects will be established by private developers selected through bidding. The government will provide financial support to these projects in the form of viability gap funding.
The successful commissioning of 1 GW offshore wind projects is estimated to produce renewable electricity of about 3.72 billion units annually, which will result in annual reduction of 2.98 million ton of CO2 equivalent emission for a period of 25 years.
Other key decisions taken by the cabinet include the expansion of Lal Bahadur Shastri International Airport, Varanasi at a cost of Rs 2,869.65 crore and the National Forensic Infrastructure Enhancement Scheme with a total financial outlay of Rs 2254.43 crore during the period from 2024-25 to 2028-29.
The expansion proposal approved for Lal Bahadur Shastri International Airport in Varanasi, the Lok Sabha constituency of Prime Minister Modi, includes extending the runway and construction of a new terminal building.