The Jawaharlal Nehru Port Authority (JNPA) has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the National Marine Dredging Company (NMDC) Group, a public joint stock company, a United Arab Emirates-based marine and dredging firm, for the development of the Vadhvan Port project in Maharashtra’s Palghar district. NMDC Group has proposed to invest Rs 10 billion for dredging, land reclamation, and shore protection of Vadhvan Port. This initiative will strengthen India’s port infrastructure and aims to position Vadhvan Port among the world’s top ports.
The project involves development of an all-weather port at Vadhvan, 140 km north to Mumbai in Maharashtra. It will be developed as a landlord port by Vadhvan Port Project Limited (VPPL), a joint venture of JNPA as the lead partner with equity participation of 74 per cent and Maharashtra Maritime Board with 26 per cent. It will have an estimated cost of Rs 762.2 billion with a capacity of 298 million tonnes per annum including 9.87 million twenty-foot equivalent units.