Union Minister for Ports, Shipping and Waterways Sarbananda Sonowal on Wednesday dedicated a waterfront promenade at Visakhapatnam Port to the public and laid foundation stones for four new projects, taking the port's package of new works to about Rs 560 crore, ANI reported.

Source: ANI via Daily Prabhat

The Rs 19 crore Port Promenade runs about 710 metres along the water from the Venkateswara Temple to the International Cruise Terminal and covers about 5.5 acres. It has a waterfront walkway and two view decks, one of them a Titanic-style viewpoint, along with a park, a public plaza, a children's play area, a food court and visitor parking, and gives residents a regulated, safe place to watch ships and port operations for the first time.

Source: ANI via NewKerala

Speaking in Visakhapatnam, Sonowal said ports, shipping and waterways have recorded significant progress since 2014 through infrastructure, digitisation and governance reforms, improving operational efficiency and cargo-handling capacity. "Because of the Prime Minister's strong vision, his untiring effort, effective policy and programme and better governance, India is now standing as one of the leading maritime nations in the world," he said, pointing to the country's 11,093-kilometre coastline as a major advantage.

Sonowal said the port handled a record 91.17 million metric tonnes of cargo in the 2025-26 financial year, about 10 per cent more than the previous year. He also announced plans to raise the port's sewage treatment capacity from 10 million litres to 15 million litres a day at an estimated Rs 11 crore under the Harit Sagar green-port initiative, and said four public-private partnership projects worth about Rs 800 crore are under construction and expected to be commissioned by 2027.

Source: Observer Voice

The Visakhapatnam programme came ahead of Sonowal's address at the 31st CII Partnership Summit 2026, hosted by the Andhra Pradesh government on November 12 and 13 on the theme 'Navigating New World Order: Trade, Technology, Trust'.