Team Herald
PANJIM: A day after announcing that the coal handling at Mormugao Port Trust will be phased out in a year, Chief Minister Dr Pramod Sawant said that Union Ports Minister Mansukh Mandaviya will be in the State this month to decide on the matter.
Speaking to the media, Sawant said that Mandaviya will be in Goa to discuss other options of business at the MPT. “The ports minister will be here this month and discuss and decide how to go about. The Centre has already assured to reduce coal handling at MPT by 50 per cent soon,” he said.
On double tracking too, CM said he has raised the concern with the Railways Minister Piyush Goyal who has assured to positively look into the matter.
Sawant said that coal handling at Mormugao Port Trust (MPT) won’t be increased “at any cost”. He added that a plan would soon be chalked out to significantly reduce the quantity from the 14-15 million tonnes the port handled in 2017. Sawant also said the port would diversify into pharma export and the tourism sector.
“Coal handling will surely not exceed 14-15 million tonnes, and will drop significantly below that,” Sawant said. “We will now see how we can put the port to other uses. Currently, pharma exports go from Goa to JNPT (Navi Mumbai), and from there, they are exported further. I spoke to Union Ports and Shipping Minister Mansukh Mandaviya about getting those mother vessels to Goa. Discussions are also in progress on how MPT berths can be used for tourism.”
