According to the Transport Minister, Nitin Gadkari, Tamil Nadu is turning out to be a major beneficiary under Sagarmala, Rs.4 lakh-cr Flagship River and allied infra building program of the Centre envisaging port-led development and that the initiative, which was conceived as a 10-year project, is going to be completed in the next five years. As per the listed projects totaling to more than Rs. 80,000cr, veering around to port and industrial investments in the state. Under Sagarmala, the State will get a LNG terminal at Ennore at a cost of about Rs.3,000cr; at Tuticorin Port, a North Cargo Berth, a food grain berth, an additional container berth and a coal jetty are planned. Apart from this, the development of ports at Sirkali and Colachel are also in the pipeline and construction work on all these projects will start in two years. As a matter of fact, huge investments are also planned in developing inland waterways using the major rivers in the State, including the Tamiraparani, Manimuttar, Cauvery, Palar, Vaigai and the Bhavani as they present a huge opportunity for private sector investments, he added.
