The Ministry of Shipping has significantly revised upwards the cost estimate for a project at a marine dockyard in the union territory of the Andaman & Nicobar Islands.
The project ‘Extension of Dry Dock-II’ at a marine dockyard including supply, installation and commissioning of dry dock pumps and accessories in the capital Port Blair was sanctioned by the Ministry of Shipping under the Central Sector Scheme to the tune of Rs 962.4 million, with stipulated da, te of completion of 42 months during February 2016. The scope of work was to extend the existing dock by 90 m in length to accommodate more and bigger vessels.
This was to double the existing capacity of ship repair facilities at Port Blair and generate employment opportunities for the islanders. Preliminary work commenced at the site in March 2017.
Due to some technical changes in the project, there were cost and time overruns. Therefore, the Ministry of Shipping has now approved the revised cost estimate for an amount of Rs 1239.5 billion. The extension facility of the dry dock will be made available to the shipping industry by August 2021.
Shipping activities are the lifeline of the island territory of Andaman & Nicobar as the majority of the development activities are linked to them. Due to significantly increased ship movements, the existing repair facilities at Port Blair are being augmented. This will boost the shipbuilding and ship-repairing industries and facilitate the ‘Make in India’ initiative of the government.