Hyderabad: The Andhra Pradesh government has kick-started the process of developing the long pending Bhavan-apadu Greenfield sea port project in Srikakulam.

Infrastructure Corpora-tion of AP has issued an Expression of Interest for developing the port on a Design-Build-Finance-Operate-Transfer basis on a public-private-partnership model. This will be the first sea port to materialize since the TD coming to power.

The port will handle cargo from in and out of Srikakulam and Vizianagaram districts of AP and mineral rich states of Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh and South Odisha. The proposals have to reach the INCAP on or before March 16.

According to the corporation, the net worth of the applicant was decided as Rs 800 crore. Besides the major port of Visakha Port Trust as Visakhapatnam, the state has identified 14 non-major port locations for development, administered by the Director of Ports of AP.

“Out of 14 port locations, three non major ports are already operating under PPP mode at Gangavaram, Kakinada and Krishnapatnam. As of March 2014, these ports handled more than 50 million tonnes of cargo.

Added to approximately 60 million tonnes of cargo handled by Vishakhapatnam Major Port, the state’s coastline contributes to approximately 12 per cent of the India’s cargo throughput. But there is much more potential,” said a senior official of the Infrastructure Corporation.

Special Investment regions like the Petroleum and Petrochemical Investment Regions near the Kakinada-Srikakulam region will create demand for commodity-specific port infrastructure.