Title - Road map ready for Sagar port

The Union shipping ministry is set to sign a state support agreement with the Bengal government for the Sagar port on August 1, and the cabinet may vet the project by September 30. A PMO statement said work had already begun on the two new ports in Andhra Pradesh and Bengal. A special purpose vehicle (SPV) would be formed to implement both the projects, with the Centre holding 74 per cent equity and the respective state governments holding 26 per cent. The SPV will then bid out the project on a private-public-partnership basis. The Sagar port is one of the various infrastructure projects for which the PMO released a road map today. In July, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had identified shipping, civil aviation and railways for infrastructure push. The government said the ministry of shipping would form a steering group to oversee the progress of the ports, including finalising the structure of the SPV, monitoring the bidding process, preparation of documents and award of concessions. The move is aimed at a time bound implementation of the project. The PMO said the Navi Mumbai, Mopa (Goa) and Kannur (Kerala) airport projects would be awarded by March 2013. Road maps for more projects were released today. These include an elevated rail corridor project in Mumbai, a high-speed rail corridor between Mumbai and Ahmedabad and other routes, and the development of five railway stations.