Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday laid the foundation stone of the Vadhvan deep-water port in Maharashtra and said the port will be the country’s largest container port, receiving more containers than all containers received by the country’s existing ports at present.

Addressing a large gathering on the occasion, he said it was a big day in the history of development of Maharashtra and the country. The Vadhvan port will be built at a cost of Rs 76,000 crore. The region known for ancient forts will be in future known for a modern port also, he said.

Mr Modi said in the last 10 years, and since the beginning of his third term in office, major decisions have been taken on development projects for Maharashtra. Viksit Maharashtra is the most vital part of the Viksit Bharat dream, he said. The State has capacity as well as resources for development.

Beginning his speech, the Prime Minister said he had prayed at the Samadhi of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj at the Raigarh fort in 2013, when his party chose him to be Prime Minister of the country. He said damage to Shivaji’s statue at Sindhudurg a few days ago, was a matter of sorrow, and he offered deep apologies for that.

“The entire world is looking towards Vadhvan Port today,” the Prime Minister said as he highlighted that very few ports in the world can match Vadhvan Port’s depth of 20 meters.

He said the port would transform the economic landscape of the entire region due to railway and highway connectivity. It would create opportunities for new businesses and warehousing owing to its connectivity to the dedicated Western Freight Corridor and proximity to the Delhi-Mumbai Expressway.

“Cargo will flow in and out of the region throughout the year, thereby benefiting the people of Maharashtra,” he said. “Development of Maharashtra is a huge priority for me,” he said, highlighting the gains made by Maharashtra through ‘Make in India’ and ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan’ programmes.

Lamenting the efforts of the previous governments for stalling the Vadhvan Port project for almost 60 years, the Prime Minister said that India required a new and advanced port for maritime trade but the work in this direction did not start until 2016.

It was only after Mr Devendra Fadnavis came to power that this project was taken seriously and it was decided to create a port in Palghar by 2020. However, the project again got stalled for 2.5 years due to a change in government, he said.

The Prime Minister said development on India’s coast has gained unprecedented speed in the last decade. Giving examples of modernizing ports, developing waterways, and efforts to encourage ship-building in India, he said “Lakhs of crore of rupees have been invested in this direction.”

The results can be witnessed through the doubling of the handling capacity of most ports in India, an increase in private investments and a significant reduction in the turnaround time of ships.

The Prime Minister also inaugurated and laid the foundation stone of 218 fisheries projects worth around Rs 1,560 crore, aimed at bolstering the sector’s infrastructure and productivity across the nation. These initiatives are expected to generate more than five lakh employment opportunities in the fisheries sector.

Congratulating the fishermen community, the Prime Minister said “This is New India. It learns from history and recognizes its potential and pride,” the Prime Minister remarked, adding that New India is creating new milestones in maritime infrastructure by leaving behind every trace of the shackles of slavery.