Andhra Pradesh Approves ₹440 Crore Land Acquisition of 1,903 Acres for Mulapeta Port Expansion
The Andhra Pradesh government has accorded administrative sanction for the acquisition of 1,903.39 acres of land, including salt lands, for the Phase-II expansion of the greenfield Mulapeta Port in Srikakulam district. The land acquisition has been sanctioned at a cost of ₹440.52 crore.
The approval is part of a broader Phase-II land acquisition package covering 6,248.54 acres across three greenfield ports being developed by the state — Mulapeta, Ramayapatnam and Machilipatnam — at a combined administrative sanction of ₹1,638.52 crore. Ramayapatnam Port received the largest allocation among the three, with ₹851 crore sanctioned for 2,924.45 acres, followed by Machilipatnam Port at ₹347 crore for 1,421 acres.
State investments and infrastructure minister B.C. Janardhan Reddy said the approvals were granted on the directions of Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu to strengthen the state's maritime infrastructure and meet future industrial and logistics requirements. Expenditure for the land acquisition is to be met from the internal resources of the Andhra Pradesh Maritime Board.
Mulapeta Port, developed as a greenfield facility, is designed to accommodate vessels of up to 2 lakh DWT and will feature four berths with a projected annual cargo handling capacity of around 15 million tonnes. The port is well connected to National Highway-16 and regional rail networks. Earlier this year, the Union Ministry of Commerce & Industry approved the transfer of 385.24 acres of salt land at the Naupada Salt Factory to the Andhra Pradesh Maritime Board to facilitate road and rail connectivity to the port.
The expanded port capacity is expected to support the state's broader maritime and industrial development plans, enhancing cargo handling capacity and regional logistics networks along the Andhra Pradesh coastline.