2 Adani ports to get links

The Railway Ministry will provide connectivity to six sea ports on the western coast, including two ports belonging to the Adani group, at a cost of Rs 4,000 crore. The move is aimed at garnering resources for the cash-starved Railways.

Presenting his maiden budget on Tuesday, Railway Minister D V Sadananda Gowda said in-principle approval had been accorded to provide rail connectivity to seven ports—six on the west coast and one on the east. Five out these seven ports are private. 

Hazira in the Surat district of Gujarat and Dholera in the Gulf of Cambay are among the six western ports to be provided railway link through private participation.

Both are developed and operated by the Adani group, which is believed to have close links to Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Dholera has also seen the involvement of the JK Group in its development. Tuna, under Kandla Port Trust, is the third port in Gujarat which will get rail link.

The other three ports on the western coast—Dighi, Rewas and Jaigarh—are in Maharashtra and close to Mumbai. The seventh is Astagram in the Puri district of Odisha. The Railways has taken up port connectivity on a priority basis through public-private partnership in tandem with the Sagar Mala project of port development.