India’s Minister of State for Ports, Shipping and Waterways, Government of India, Mr Shantanu Thakur today visited Visakhapatnam Port Authority (VPA), wherein he chaired review meetings with the officials and also held an interactive session with key stakeholders.
Welcoming the minister with a ceremonial Guard VPA’s chairperson Dr. M. Angamuthu, IAS, gave a detailed presentation on VPA’s varied infrastructure facilities which included key performance indicators, rail and road connectivity, modernization efforts, green initiatives including plantation and solar energy projects, up gradation of the fishing harbour, and implementation of dust suppression systems.
Similarly, Information Technology (IT) initiatives and community outreach efforts through Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) were shared with the minister including skill training, educational programs for tribal youth, and placement support in reputed organizations.
Appreciating VPA’s team spirit the minister encouraged VPA to explore opportunities in shipbuilding, ship repair and ship recycling since VPA is the strategic Port in Andhra Pradesh having a long coastline on the East Coast.
He also called upon the port authorities to facilitate cruise tourism and urged them to make use of green initiatives both in back-end and front end operations.
Dr Angamuthu assured the minister that his suggestions would be taken forward for the overall growth and development of the Port.
The Minister of State then visited the Dredging Corporation of India and reviewed the DCI Projects taken up in DCI.
Later Mr Thakur visited the Centre of Excellence in Maritime & Ship Building (CEMS) and distributed Course Completion Certificate and Placement Certificates to 60 Tribal Youth of Alluri Seetharamaraju District in the field of Arc Welding and Inventory Clerk.
These were part of CSR initiatives under the Skill Development Programme sponsored by Visakhapatnam Port Authority.
Mr Durgesh Kumar Dubey, IRTS, Deputy Chairperson, Mr P.S.L. Swami, IOFS, Chief Vigilance Officer, along with Mr T. Venu Gopal, Secretary, VPA, and other Heads of Departments participated in the meeting.
