KOLKATA: Syama Prasad Mookerjee Port (SMP), formerly known as Kolkata Port, has planned to offer its Netaji Subhas Dock berths to private parties for modernisation and operation after completion of the existing maintenance agreements for these facilities by 2024, a top official said. The initiative is in line with the Maritime India Vision 2030, he said.

“The existing operation and maintenance (O&M) agreements for NSD berths will come to an end in 2024. We intend to take four berths together in the 1st phase and the outer terminal, while the berth 2 and 3 will be taken up in the second phase. With this, the entire operations of NSD that comes under the Kolkata Dock System will be done on PPP (public-private partnership) mode,” SMP, Kolkata Chairman Vinit Kumar told .

Kolkata Dock System consists of Netaji Subhas Dock and Kidderpore Dock.

The port has executed a PPP contract for a cluster of six berths in its Kidderpore Dock, and this is considered the first private sector participation in the city’s centuries-old port operation.