Union Minister lays stone for cruise terminal in Vizag

Visakhapatnam Union Minister of State for Ports, Shipping and Waterways Shantanu Thakur on Friday said Visakhapatnam will shortly emerge as a hub for cruise tourism.

After a review meeting with Visakhapatnam Port Trust Chairman K. Rama Mohana Rao and other officials here, he told the media that a 2,000 square metre terminal will be built by reorienting the channel berth in the outer harbour with facilities like souvenir shop, cafeteria and waiting rooms.

The Minister later laid the foundation stone for the terminal and a grade separator. The Ministry of Tourism and VPT will be spent together will spend about Rs.103 crore.

The Minister directed the port officials to complete work on the terminal on a fast-track mode.

Thakur said under Sagarmala project they are developing a freight corridor between Visakhapatnam and Raipur. He said multi-modal container park in the city was performing well. After the Ministry of Commerce designated Visakhapatnam Port as a gateway port for container cargo bound for Nepal, the traffic has gone up satisfactorily.

The Minister said during Maritime India Summit, MoUs worth Rs.26,000 crore were signed. This included the expansion of HPCL Visakh Refinery from 8.33 million tonnes to 15 million tonnes.

He said they had set a target 75 million tonnes for VPT during current fiscal and hoped that the port would continue its impressive track-record.

The Minister said the fishing harbour at Visakhapatnam is being modernised with work facilities with an outlay of Rs.150 crore.