Visakhapatnam: Union minister of state for ports, shipping, and waterways Shantanu Thakur said here on Friday that the Visakhapatnam Port Trust (VPT) has set a target of handling nearly 75 million tonnes of cargo for this fiscal.
Addressing a press conference at the VPT chamber on Friday, Thakur said the port has achieved a throughput of nearly 73 million tonness of cargo, and is now setting a higher target in order to maintain its standard of being among the three major ports in the country.
Thakur, who was in the city on his three-day maiden official visit, reviewed the development works of the port and laid foundation stones for several projects including the prestigious cruise terminal for operating international Panamax cruise vessels.
"The cruise terminal will be ready for operations by the next year. The project is being developed with support from the Union Ministry of Tourism," Thakur, who represents the Bangaon Lok Sabha constituency in West Bengal, said.
Earlier, he visited the Lord Varaha Lakshmi Narasimha Swamy temple at Simhachalam. He also participated in the Swacchata Pakhwada along with VPT chairman Rama Mohana Rao.
The minister distributed prizes to winners of the Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav competitions conducted by the VPT during June-July.
The Union ministry of commerce presented 67 awards to various sectors of the Visakhapatnam Special Economic Zone (VSEZ) at a function here on Friday.
Commerce secretary B.V.R. Subrahmanyam presented awards to the achievers from categories like engineering, food and agri, chemicals, pharma, IT/ITES, warehousing, trading, gems and jewellery, exports, investment, employment generation for the years 20019-20 and 2021-22.
Meanwhile, the leaders and activists of five federations under the umbrella of Visakhapatnam Port trade unions staged a protest against the Union Government over privatisation of berths at the ports.
According to union secretary Jagan, the Centre proposed to privatise 31 berths at all major ports against the interests of the workers.
The berth number EQ 6 and EQ 7, and the WQ 6, 7 and 8 berths at Visakhapatnam Port Trust have been included in the list of berths set for privatization. “We appeal to the government to withdraw this decision,” the union leader said.
