JSW Infrastructure To Develop All-Weather, Deep-Water Port In Karnataka

The JSW Infrastructure has received a letter of award to develop an all-weather, deep-water, greenfield port at Keni Port in Karnataka on a public private partnership basis for Rs 4,119 crore. The proposed Keni Port would have modern environment-friendly mechanised facilities for handling cape-size vessels.

Key features of the proposed port

To begin with, the capacity of the proposed port shall be 30 MTPA million tonnes per annum in the initial phase with further potential to increase substantially in the long run. Keni Port is envisaged as an all-weather, greenfield, multi-cargo, direct berthing, deep-water commercial port for handling all types of cargoes on the west coast in the North Karnataka region to serve the industries in the area covering Bellary, Hosapete, Hubballi, Kalaburagi, and South Maharashtra.

Strategic location

The proposed Keni Port is located strategically between two operational major ports viz Mormugao Port in the north and New Mangalore Port in the south. Once developed, the Keni port is expected to crucially address the rising import and export trade momentum of the region.

Infrastructure development

Rail connectivity to the Keni Port site is proposed to be in the southern side and will be connected with the existing Konkan line to north of the Ankola station. The proposed railway alignment will be developed with a total length of about 8 km. The proposed port shall be well connected with road and railway connectivity.

Karnataka's maritime infrastructure

Karnataka is targeting an impressive industrial growth and there has been an increased emphasis on the expansion and growth in maritime infrastructure in the region. The state has a hinterland potential of 44 MTPA of cargo and as per the Karnataka Maritime Perspective Plan, the same is expected to increase to 117 MTPA by 2035. In comparison to the future demand and the capacity being handled by the present ports, there is a need for a deep draft port to fulfil the cargo handling gap requirement in future.

The development of the Keni Port is expected to boost the maritime infrastructure in Karnataka and cater to the growing trade demands of the region. With its strategic location and modern facilities, the port has the potential to become a major hub for cargo movement in the region.