The National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government has quickly begun its new term by announcing significant infrastructure projects during its second Cabinet meeting on Wednesday.
Among the major approvals are a Rs 76,220 crore port project in Maharashtra designed to enhance cross-border trade and a Rs 2,869.65 crore expansion of the airport at Varanasi, the parliamentary constituency of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
According to Information and Broadcasting Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw, the proposed “all-weather greenfield deepdraft major port” at Vadhavan in Maharashtra will rank among the top 10 ports globally. The project will be executed by Vadhavan Port Project (VPPL), a collaboration between the Jawaharlal Nehru Port Authority (JNPA) and the Maharashtra Maritime Board (MMB), with shareholdings of 74 per cent and 26 per cent, respectively.
The project's total cost encompasses land acquisition and infrastructure development, including the construction of roads connecting the port to national highways and the establishment of rail linkages to the existing network. This port will have a cumulative capacity of 298 million metric tonnes (MMT) annually, including approximately 23.2 million TEUs (twenty-foot equivalent units) of container handling capacity.
An official statement noted that the port will facilitate trade through the planned India Middle East Europe Economic Corridor and is projected to generate around one million jobs.
Simultaneously, the Airports Authority of India (AAI) will undertake the development of the Lal Bahadur Shastri International Airport in Varanasi, expanding its passenger handling capacity from the current 3.9 million to 9.9 million passengers annually.
These decisions underscore the NDA government's commitment to continuing its capital expenditure to build infrastructure, which has a multiplier effect on the economy, while also supporting revenue expenditure measures such as increasing the MSP for farmers to enhance their incomes.
