PM Modi to visit Andhra Pradesh, Kerala on Jan 16 and 17

PTI, Jan 15, 2024, 10:03 AM IST

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be on a two-day trip to Andhra Pradesh and Kerala from Tuesday to launch a number of development projects, including the New Dry Dock and the International Ship Repair Facility at the Cochin Shipyard Limited.

The PMO said Modi will visit Sri Sathya Sai District in Andhra Pradesh on Tuesday and inaugurate the new campus of the National Academy of Customs, Indirect Taxes and Narcotics (NACIN).

He will interact with officer trainees of the 74th and 75th batches of the Indian Revenue Service (Custom & Indirect Taxes) as well as officer trainees of the Royal Civil Service of Bhutan.

On Wednesday, PM Modi will offer prayers at Guruvayur and Thriprayar Shree Ramaswami temples in Kerala before inaugurating important infrastructure projects related to the ports, shipping, and waterways sector, the PMO aid.

In what will be a major boost to the sector, he will inaugurate three projects — the New Dry Dock (NDD), the International Ship Repair Facility (ISRF) and the LPG Import Terminal of Indian Oil Corporation Limited — worth over Rs 4,000 crore.

The NDD built at a cost of about Rs 1,800 crore at the existing premises of Cochin Shipyard Limited is a flagship project reflecting India’s engineering prowess, it said.

This one-of-a-kind 310-meter-long stepped dry dock, with a width of 75/60 meters, depth of 13 meters and a draught of up to 9.5 metres, is one of the largest marine infrastructures in the region.

It features heavy ground loading which will position India with advanced capabilities to handle strategic assets like future aircraft carriers up to 70,000T displacement as well as large commercial vessels, thus eliminating India’s dependency on foreign nations for emergency national requirements, the statement said.

The ISRF project, built at a cost of about Rs 970 crore, is a unique facility of its own. It has a ship lift system with a capacity of 6000T, a transfer system, six workstations and a berth of approximately 1,400 metres which can accommodate 7 vessels of 130 metres in length simultaneously.

The ISRF will modernise and expand the existing ship repair capabilities of CSL and will be a step towards transforming Kochi as a global ship repair hub, the PMO added.

The Indian Oil’s LPG Import Terminal at Puthuvypeen, Kochi, built at a cost of about Rs 1,236 crores, boasts state-of-the-art facilities. This project will further strengthen India’s efforts towards ensuring accessible and affordable energy for all.

With the commissioning of these three projects, the nation’s shipbuilding and repair capacities as well as the growth of energy infrastructure including ancillary industries will get a boost, it said.

The projects will also boost EXIM trade, reduce logistics costs, drive economic growth, build self-reliance and create numerous domestic and international business opportunities.

The new state-of-the-art campus of NACIN at Palasamudram in Andhra Pradesh is spread on 500 acres of land, the PMO said. The world-class training institute will impart training to the officials of the Indian Revenue Service (Custom and Indirect Taxes) as well as to the central allied services, state governments and partner nations.

With the addition of this new campus, the NACIN will focus on the use of new-age technologies such as augmented and virtual reality, blockchain as well as Artificial Intelligence and other emerging technologies for training and capacity building, it added.