In order to speed up the ₹4,000 crore Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust- Special Economic Zone (JNPT-SEZ), the transport and shipping ministry has recently handed over the letters of intent to the 10 successful bidders for an ambitious port project, said an official spokesperson, claiming that the project was plagued by one of the biggest issue of the cost of logistics, which can only be reduced by developing waterways and that the basic idea behind port development is how the government can increase job generation. Through JNPT-SEZ, in the next five years, it is expecting both direct and indirect creation of 25,000 jobs. An initial investment of around ₹450 crore is expected in the first two years. JNPT has allotted 75 acres out of a total of 450 acres of leasable land to sixteen bidders for the project and got a premium of ₹630 crore. The entire project has been conceived under the aegis of the Sagarmala program of the Ministry of Shipping.
