00:00It's going to help for movement of goods, movement of manufactured goods as well as movement of
00:06goods that are coming from other countries into India much more easily.
00:10Vadhwan Port, what is happening is first of all we are having a natural depth available
00:16which is going to eventually essentially reduce the amount of dredging that will have to be done.
00:21Dredge corridor that has been built, the Delhi-Mumbai expressway that has been built,
00:27also the multimodal highway that is being built by MMRDA in Maharashtra on that side of the port.
00:35Welcome everybody to today's discussion on the Vadhwan Port and its potential impact on
00:39India's economy and infrastructure. Now located on the western coast of Maharashtra, Vadhwan Port
00:44is poised to become one of the country's largest and most modern deep water ports,
00:50playing a critical role in enhancing India's maritime trade and logistics.
00:54Now in this conversation we'll be exploring how this ambitious project could transform
00:59regional and national trade dynamics and much more and for the same we are being joined by
01:04Dr. Yogini Deshpande, Technical Director, Renuka Consultants, Mumbai.
01:09Welcome ma'am, thank you so much for joining us today.
01:13So ma'am, with the Vadhwan Port set to handle over 23 million TEUs,
01:20how does the port's design and the capacity address India's current deep draft port deficit
01:26and also what are the unique features that enable it to dock ultra-large container ships?
01:32Thank you for having me today. So, you know, for India one of the major challenges so far
01:40with all the existing ports has been that they are unable to dock large vessels. Large vessels
01:47are the ones which have a very high, they will need high depth of water to be present at the
01:56where they are being docked. Now most ports in India are not having that kind of natural
02:02depth available and in many cases because of other aspects like dredging and other
02:11sand and soil collecting, dredging needs to be done continuously to ensure that
02:16larger ships can be docked at the ports. So, at Vadhwan Port what is happening is first of all
02:24we are having a natural depth available which is going to eventually essentially reduce the
02:31amount of dredging that will have to be done and these ships can come, containers, large containers
02:38can come in at any given point, be unloaded and be sent out. Typically what happens at other large
02:45ports like JNPT that we have that at particular time frame in terms of the tidal
02:53aspect then only the large boats, the large ships can come in and they can be
03:00unloaded and then sent back. So, this time that is lost waiting for the tide to come in or for the
03:07water depth to be available is going to be taken care naturally in some by the Vadhwan location.
03:13Also tell us how will this Vadhwan Port's strategic location near the major transport
03:19corridors enhance the connectivity and also boost the regional economic growth across Maharashtra
03:24and the neighboring states? What industries are we expecting that will benefit the most
03:31from this development? So, first of all Vadhwan is sort of between towards this end of Maharashtra
03:40and the beginning of Gujarat border. It's located near close to Dahanu and Baroda.
03:46Now both these, so this location is very strategic given the already existing
03:52infrastructure, road and rail infrastructure has been built in the past 10 years which is the
03:56dedicated freight corridor that has been built, the Delhi-Mumbai expressway that has been built,
04:04also the multimodal highway that is being built by MMRDA in Maharashtra on that side of the port
04:13and connectivity is going to help for movement of goods, movement of manufactured goods as well as
04:19movement of goods that come from other countries into India much more easily. So, transportation
04:26cost, transportation time will get reduced considerably and it sort of is ensuring the
04:33connectivity on the north is right up to Delhi and while in the south it could be all the way
04:38right up to Bangalore. All right, so now let's talk about the environment. Now what specific
04:44eco-friendly measures have been integrated into this Vadhwan port project to ensure minimal
04:49environment disruption and also how does the port's offshore development plan align with the
04:54sustainability goals and what steps are being taken to protect the local marine ecosystem as well?
05:01Basically, a major portion of the port is being built offshore. So, you are basically having a
05:10very long about 10.15 kilometer long offshore breakwater which is being built which will ensure
05:16the port will be protected from adverse weather. Now, on the front side when the port has got
05:24protected from the adverse weather, between portion which is between the land and the
05:30breakwater, it is going to be utilized for building the port in itself. This structure
05:37will ensure the port's operation, safeguarding the vessels and infrastructure from high waves
05:42and seasonal moves. Now, because the development, typically development involves major dredging
05:48activities to deepen the apro channel harbour basin, this is going to make sure that it's
05:54suitable for ultra-large container vessels. But at the same time, shore protection bunds
06:00are going to be created which will stabilize the reclaimed areas, ensuring longevity and
06:05reducing the risk of erosion. This will also, in terms of the energy that is going to be
06:14used for this, they are going to ensure that clean technology will be put into place
06:22to ensure that sustainable energy is being used for the cargo handling purposes.
06:30Then, also in the dredging practices, eco-friendly dredging practices will be used as a
06:36commitment, thereby minimizing the ecological footprint. Like I mentioned earlier,
06:44because there's natural depth, the amount of dredging that is going to be required is going to
06:49be reduced. This also is going to ensure that there is a least ecological impact because if we
06:55didn't have natural depth, you would have had to dredge for more, which would have impacted the
07:00surrounding flora and fauna in the sea. And also, they're going to have protective measures
07:07around the coastal habitat, which will ensure that the mangrove conservation is happening
07:12and marine life protection initiatives will also be taken into consideration.
07:17Okay, so they've already factored in as to how to go about saving the local.
07:23Yes, yes.
07:24All right. So, also tell us, how does the Mahayati government support for this Vadhavan
07:31Port reflect its broader commitment to transforming Maharashtra's economic
07:34landscape and infrastructure? And also, what political factors have facilitated
07:39the fast tracking of this project?
07:41The political factors, obviously, because Vadhavan Port is, in some sense, a center's
07:47project. While it is being built in Maharashtra, there is obviously a direct impact of building
07:57such a huge structure in Maharashtra in terms of jobs, in terms of development. If you see
08:03Dahanu today on the map, it doesn't really have much development and it sort of is a piece of
08:11land which has not been taken care of in terms of development for all these years. So, that
08:18definitely will change. The local communities over there will have access to better healthcare,
08:25better roads and everything because of this particular infrastructure project coming in
08:30over there. And from the Maharashtra government side, they have keeping in fact that this
08:36particular port is being on the books to be developed in the past few years, have already
08:43initiated the multi-modal corridor, which would start from Mumbai, Dahanu, all the way to JNPT.
08:51So, connecting its existing port to the new port is essentially their broader commitment to
08:59ensuring that Maharashtra's economic development and landscape changes.
09:04Absolutely. And can we also specifically talk about what political factors have facilitated
09:09the fast-tracking of this project? I think I mentioned in the beginning that because the
09:14centre was this and that this project was going to come up and Maharashtra government,
09:21this current government is supporting it by building a multi-modal transfers. I think I
09:27mentioned in the beginning, right? All right. Thank you so much for joining us today
09:33and thank you for sharing your valuable insights also on the
09:36Wadman Port and its countless benefits. Thanks. Great. Thank you.
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