The Hindu : Three-decade-old ferry project found unviable

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Apr 23, 2002

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Other States - Gujarat

Three-decade-old ferry project found unviable

By Our Special Correspondent

AHMEDABAD April 22. The long-awaited Dahej-Ghogha Ro-Ro ferry service, under the consideration of the Gujarat Government for the past three decades, has now been found economically unviable.

The project has not yet been shelved but it has been found that there should be more terminals to make it viable, the Additional Chief Secretary, Ports and Fisheries, and chairman of the State-owned Gujarat Maritime Board, A.K. Pradhan, and the GMB Managing Director, P.N. Roy Chowdhury, said here today.

The State Government had undertaken several surveys and at one stage a Goa-based private company had offered to implement the project which was envisaged to reduce the road distance from the Saurashtra region to Mumbai by about 200 km.

It was planned that truck traffic from Kandla and some other parts of the Saurashtra region could use the ferry service at Ghogha in Bhavnagar district to land at Dahej across the Gulf of Kutch in south Gujarat for onward journey to Mumbai.

A study was undertaken by a foreign agency and it recently submitted a report, Mr. Chowdhury said.

Considering an initial investment of over Rs. 200 crores, it would not generate enough traffic at Ghogha.

The GMB was now considering adding Hazira in south Gujarat and Mumbai as the other two terminals for a possible four-way ferry service, he said.

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Three-decade-old ferry project found unviable