How a deep-sea Maharashtra port will benefit farmers
The Maharashtra government plans to develop its first international market for the sale and purchase of agricultural produce near the proposed greenfield Vadhavan port in Palghar district. While the deep-sea port aims to do away with the saturation and logistical constraints at the Mumbai port around 150 km away and the Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust (JNPT) near Uran, the international market near it will facilitate the export of agricultural produce, especially the chiku (sapodilla) fruit grown in nearby Dahanu and the famed Alphonso mangoes from the Konkan. Local communities such as fisherfolk, however, are opposing the Vadhavan port as they anticipate a drop in their prized catch of saranga or the silver pomfret. Much sought after by fish eaters, the silver pomfret is also Maharashtra's 'state fish'.According to a senior official in the state department of cooperation, a potential site has been identified near Dapchari in the district for the market, which would be spread over nearly 1,000 acres. 'It will help farmers export their produce and get remunerative prices for it. The market will have a cold storage chain, too,' he says, adding that a tender has been floated for appointing consultants to conduct a pre-feasibility study.advertisementThe Jawaharlal Nehru Port Authority (JNPA) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Maharashtra Maritime Board (MMB) for the development of the Vadhavan port. Located near Dahanu, the site for the proposed port abuts Gujarat. The Union cabinet approved the proposal in June 2024 and the mega port is expected to cost Rs 76,220 crore.The project will see the reclamation of 1,473 hectares (3,639.86 acre) of land, while 571 hectares (1,410.97 acre), comprising private, tribal, forest and government land, will be acquired for rail and road connectivity. Another 1,000 hectare of government land will be made available for port-related infrastructure facilities.
The port will add container capacity of 15 million Twenty-foot Equivalent Unit (TEUs) by 2035, which will increase to 23.9 million TEUs by 2040.The state government has also decided to set up 65 Agricultural Produce Market Committees (APMCs) in talukas across 21 districts. This will fill a crucial gap as 68 of Maharashtra's 358 talukas have no APMC, leaving only three without one—Borivali, Andheri and Kurla in Mumbai.advertisementSubscribe to India Today Magazine
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