GMR Infra wins contract to build Kakinada commercial port

GMR Infrastructure said its unit Kakinada SEZ Ltd has won the contract to create a greenfield, commercial port in East Godavari District of Andhra Pradesh.

The Greenfield Port would be located at around 30 Km North from the city of Kakinada and proposed to be developed as an all-weather, deep draft, multi-cargo port, the infrastructure major said.

The total investment required was not disclosed.

The port is the central feature of the upcoming Kakinada Special Investment Region (KSIR ) a port-based multi-product special investment region .

The Port would be spread over around 1950 acres, while the Industrial Park will be spread over 8500 acres.

The Special Investment Region would house various industries including Petrochemicals , Food & Agro Processing , Discrete Manufacturing , Electronics , Renewable Energy and will cater to both exports and domestic markets.

The port will also be located on the Vizag Chennai Industrial Corridor and is expected to benefit from the associated corridor developments, it added.

“Given the strategic location, the Port is expected to become the Gateway to the East Coast of India,” said the company.

The Kakinada port will have initial capacity of 16 million tons.

The revenue share payable to state government is 2.7% for a period of 30 years.

AP Government will also create required external infrastructure such as a road connecting the nearest highway to the port boundary, water supply up to the port boundary and power supply from nearest substation.

BVN Rao , Business Chairman for the Transportation & Urban Infrastructure operations of GMR Infrastructure said the port will boost economic development graph of the region.

It will also “spiral up our Port’s potential to attract even more prestigious clients , taking the project valuations up by many folds,” he said.