New Delhi: Minister of Ports, Shipping and Waterways, Sarbananda Sonowal on Tuesday told the Rajya Sabha that cargo handling the ports in Andhra Pradesh, including Visakhapatnam, had slowed down due to the COVID pandemic effect.

In a written reply to a question asked by YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) MP member V. Vijayasai Reddy during the zero hour at the Budget session, the Minister said that the COVID pandemic had affected exports and imports internationally, resulting in less cargo handling than any other port at Vizag port in Andhra Pradesh as well as the Gangavaram port, Kakinada deep water port, and Krishnapatnam port.

The minister said that Visakhapatnam which is a major port was operating under the purview of his ministry while the Gangavaram, Kakinada, and Krishnapatnam ports were set up on a PPP basis, were operating under the Andhra Pradesh government's Maritime Board. He said that the berths and terminals at all major ports under his ministry, including Visakhapatnam, were operating in a public-private partnership. Currently, the five berths in the Visakhapatnam port are operating on a PPP basis. The Minister said that development work related to cargo handling at the port is ongoing.

The Ports minister said the non-major ports also handled cargo handling less than their capacity. The Minister said that the Andhra Pradesh government was developing the KSEZ port at Ramayapatnam, Bhavanapadu, Machilipatnam, and Kakinada as non-major ports on the Land Lord model.

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