Visakhapatnam:The Centre is supporting a proposed Rs 30,000-crore greenfield shipbuilding cluster at Dugarajapatnam, Union shipping minister Sarbananda Sonowal said on Thursday.
Addressing the 31st CII partnership summit here, Sonowal said AP’s 1,053-km coastline and location near the international shipping route gave it the potential to emerge as a major maritime and logistics hub.
The cluster has received in-principle approval under the national shipbuilding mission. With a planned capacity to handle 1.2 million gross tonnes annually, this facility is expected to strengthen India’s shipbuilding and ship-repair capabilities.
A special-purpose vehicle involving the state maritime board and Visakhapatnam port authority has been formed to advance the project.
The Visakhapatnam port handled a record 91.17 million tonnes of cargo in 2025-26, registering nearly 10 per cent growth for the fourth consecutive year. Projects worth about `600 crore were under way at the port to expand capacity, improve ease of doing business and create jobs, the minister said.
Four greenfield ports under construction at Mulapeta, Machilipatnam, Ramayapatnam and Kakinada are also expected to increase the state’s cargo-handling capacity and strengthen its role in the country’s maritime economy, he said.
Referring to the central government initiatives like Sagarmala, Maritime India Vision 2030 and Maritime Amrit Kaal Vision 2047, Sonowal said the country’s maritime sector was expected to attract around `80 lakh crore in investments in the coming years.
He said Andhra Pradesh had the potential to become a leading maritime and logistics hub under chief minister Chandrababu Naidu’s leadership.
Sonowal invited global investors to participate in the state’s growth, identifying port-led development, shipbuilding and ship-repair infrastructure, and positioning AP as India’s eastern maritime gateway as priorities.
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