Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy will inaugurate the Machilipatnam port construction works at Manginapudi in Krishna district on May 22 (Monday). It is one of the three non-major ports (Ramayapatnam in Nellore and Moolapeta in Srikakulam district are the other two), being developed by the AP Maritime Board (APMB) at an estimated cost of ?11,465 crore (?5,253 crore and ?6,212 crore in the first and second phases respectively), on a total extent of 3,700 acres. 

The project is being implemented by Machilipatnam Port Development Corporation Limited, a special purpose vehicle floated by the State government. 

According to an official release, the Machilipatnam port is targeted to be built in two phases with a total cargo handling capacity of approximately 116 Million Tons Per Annum (MTPA). It will have four berths in the first phase handling 35 MTPA and 12 additional berths handling 81 MTPA in the next phase. These berths will cater to coal, general and container cargo. 

Connectivity
The port is connected to National Highways 65, 216 and 216-A, and a 6.50 km four-lane road has been proposed to be laid from the port area for connecting it to NH-216. 

As far as railway connectivity is concerned, the port has Machilipatnam and Pedana stations in close proximity (towards Vijayawada, Bhimavaram and Nidadavolu). A 5.5 km dedicated railway line is proposed to be laid from a point, 3 km away from Pedana station, on the existing Gudivada-Machilipatnam line. 

The port has Krishna, Guntur and East and West Godavari districts as its primary hinterland and Khammam, Warangal, Karimnagar, Adilabad and Nalgonda districts in Telangana, Sukma, Buapur, Dantewada and Raipur in Chhattisgarh and parts of Madhya Pradesh, Uttaranchal and north Karnataka and east Maharashtra as the secondary hinterland. 

The Power Finance Corporation Limited sanctioned ?3,940 crore as a loan for the construction of the greenfield port. The debt-equity ratio has been pegged at 75:25 (?3,940 crore through debt and ?1,314 crore as equity by the APMB and the Government of A.P.).

Source: The Hindu