Mangaluru: Minister of Public Works Department (PWD) H C Mahadevappa who is also in charge of ports and inland transport visited the old port area to take stock of Phase -1 of Asian Development Bank (ADB) funded project.

Speaking to reporters, Minister Mahadevappa listed measures taken to implement the project sanctioned during the UPA regime. UPA government then had sanctioned Rs 911 Crore for the Phase-2 project with first phase costing Rs 223 Crore. About 85 percent of the project cost is funded by ADB and the rest 15 percent by the state government.

The project took three years to take off considering the initial obstacles related to survey and preparation of detailed project report. The minister exuded confidence in completing the first phase by this year and the second phase by the year 2020.
The state government is emphasising on the early completion of the project to give impetus to tourism, fishing by upgrading the port, Minister Mahadevappa said.

When vessels from other states and countries anchor at the port, the economic activities are bound to increase leading to revenue and employment generation, Minister Mahadevappa noted.

An amount of Rs 600 Crore has been sought from the state government this year towards the development of state ports, Mahadevappa stated.

Food and Civil supplies Minister U T Khadar, MLA J R Lobo and others were present.