Bhoomipujan of the ambitious Dry Port proposed at Wardha would be performed on Oct 2
Nitin Gadkari, Union Minister for Surface Transport, Shipping and Water Conservation, announced that the bhoomipujan of the ambitious Dry Port proposed at Wardha would be performed on Oct 2.
Central Government will invest Rs 10,000 crore to create the facility. State Industrial and Investment Corporation of Maharashtra (SICOM) land has been transferred to Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust (JNPT) for the Dry Port project. It will be a satellite port of JNPT, Navi Mumbai. The export and import procedure for goods will be the same as at JNPT, said Gadkari.
Gadkari was interacting with reporters during a press conference on Saturday. In the capacity of Union Shipping Minister, he had announced the project in August 2014. The project was proposed on SICOM land, but there was some delay in transfer of the land to JNPT.
Now, that it has been done, the project is all set to take-off and bhoomipujan will be the first step in that direction. It will be beneficial for the entire Vidarbha region as goods worth an estimated Rs 8,500 crore pass through Nagpur annually. With the dry port, and also the Nagpur-Mumbai Samruddhi Corridor project, economic activity in the region will get a major boost. This project will help the farmers in stronger market connectivity. He said that he was also working on a project to increase production of Bamboo in the suicide-hit Vidarbha region to improve financial condition of farmers.
Bamboo cultivation has potential to generate employment for 5 lakh people in the districts of Vidarbha region. Bamboo plantation can be useful in making shirts, bed-sheets, furniture, pulp, bio-ethanol, incense sticks, and other purposes. There is a huge demand for bamboo in interior decoration of starred hotels in the country.
Gadkari appreciated Sudhir Mungantiwar, Forest Minister, for waiving the requirement of transit pass during transportation of bamboo in the State. This will boost bamboo production in Maharashtra, Gadkari said. Farmers can produce 200 tonnes of bamboo in one acre of land and earn Rs 25,000/- per tonne, Gadkari said. Presently, India is importing timber worth Rs 40,000 crore and incense sticks worth Rs 4,000 crore.
Bamboo can be used for protection of crops in farms. The tribals of Gadchiroli district can earn huge money from bamboo cultivation. The Government can use abandoned mines for large-scale plantation of bamboo.
