State urges Centre to relax CRZ rules for ports' development

The Karnataka Government on Monday requested the Centre to relax the coastal regulatory zone (CRZ) rules to enable it to develop small ports in the State.

Karnataka Ports Minister Baburao Chinchansur, who attended the Sagarmala port development apex committee meeting chaired by Union Shipping Minister Nitin Gadkari, said that the existing CRZ regulations were a major hurdle to the development of ports in the state.

He also requested the Centre to sanction Rs 200 crore for developing ports as well strengthen the security system around ports. He said under Asian Development Bank (ADB) project, Rs 911 crore had been sanctioned by the State government to address the problems of sea erosion in coastal areas and first phase work has been started.

The minister said the State is also working on to rope in private entities for development of minor ports under the Karnataka State Port Development Policy 2014.

Honnavar, Manki, Mavinakurve, Basavaraj Durga Island, Belekeri and Tadadi ports in Uttara Kannada district will be developed under public private partnership (PPP) model, he said.