Govt approves Rs 1,571 cr JNPT project

NEW DELHI: The government today approved a Rs 1,571-crore project for Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust ( JNPT) for widening its channels, a move aimed at handling bigger ships and attracting international vessels.

The decision was taken by the Cabinet Committee on Infrastructure ( CCI) in its meeting here and is a part of the government's efforts to develop JNPT as a hub port on the West Cost, an official statement said.

The project includes "deepening and widening of Mumbai Harbour Channel and Jawaharlal Nehru Port Channel (Phase-I) of JNPT at an estimated cost of Rs 1,571.60 crore," it said.

The work entails deepening and widening of channels for handling vessels up to capacity of 6,000 Twenty-feet Equivalent units ( TEU) and will be completed in 25 months.

TEU is an unit of cargo capacity, used to describe the capacity of container ships and container terminals.

The project on its implementation will result in optimum utilisation of capacity and faster turnaround of larger vessels.

It will also be incremental in regional economic development and have spin-off economic benefits including employment generation.