MUMBAI: The Maharashtra Maritime Board (MMB) will take an equity stake of at least 26 per cent in a new Rs.65,545 crore port to be built by the Central Government with Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust (JNPT) as the lead partner, according to sources.

On February 5, the Union Cabinet accorded ‘in-principle’ approval for the new port to be built by a special purpose vehicle (SPV) formed under the Companies Act, in which State-owned JNPT — India’s biggest Container Gateway — will hold an equity stake equal to or more than 50 per cent.

“MMB is very much in the project; that is very clear,” said a Government official. This issue was discussed at a meeting called by Shipping Secretary Gopal Krishna a few days ago, he said.  “As far as we are concerned, the earlier MoU (of JNPT 74% & MMB 26%) is in place and the Cabinet was informed about it.

We have to take a call on the equity stake we will hold because it will depend on the cost of the project. All other details/modalities are yet to be worked out,” he added.

The ever-increasing size of container ships makes it imperative that a deep draft container port is developed on India’s Western Coast, the Ministry official said.

“Vadhavan Port has a natural draft of about 20 metres close to the shore, making it possible for it to handle bigger vessels. Development of Vadhavan Port will enable call of container vessels of 16,000-25,000 TEUs capacity, giving advantages of economies of scale and reducing logistics cost,” he added.

The SPV will develop port infrastructure, including reclamation, construction of breakwater, rail and road connectivity to the hinterland. All the cargo handling activities will be outsourced to specialists through the PPP route.