Jay Prasad

Dighi Port Limited

DIGHI PORT is the first green field port in Maharashtra being developed under a 50 year "Build, Own, Operate, Share & Transfer (BOOST)" Concession Agreement signed with Maharashtra Maritime Board (MMB). Recently, we have commissioned the longest quay length in Maharashtra and will be further commissioning another 1100 mtrs of quay length shortly to make it the largest green field Port in Maharashtra with an overall capacity of 30 million tonnes with an investment of Rs. 2500 crores. More importantly, we shall be further investing approximately 1500 crores in the Road & Rail connectivity projects. Dighi Port is the largest node of the ‘Delhi Mumbai Industrial Corridor' (DMIC) planned in Maharashtra. Dighi Port Area has also been identified as one of the 7 Mega National Investment and Manufacturing Zones (NIMZ) under Government of India's new Manufacturing Policy with a total area of 230 sq.km is allocated for the development of the Manufacturing Zone. In view of the industrial development in and around the port on account of the DMIC and the NIMZ, a port based Special Economic Zone (SEZ) and Free Trade Warehousing Zone (FTWZ) has been planned at Dighi Port. In the Phase I development - we have undertaken to develop 5 multi-purpose berths with a deep draft of 14.5m and an overall capacity of 30 million tonnes. Two multi-purpose berths out of the 5 have been commissioned and the port is handling cargo such as Bauxite, Coal and Steel on a regular basis. Shipments of foodgrains, sugar, iron, cement and clinker are also expected to start soon. The port has already successfully handled Post Panamax and Capesize vessels having a DWT of up to 1,55,000 Mts. Average discharge rate at the port has been in excess of 1000MTs per hour. Further, Dighi Port is the only port after Dhabol in the state of Maharashtra to have all clearances in place for setting up of an LNG Terminal for which it is in advanced stages of discussion with certain strategic players.