- The Union Government has given go-ahead for setting up India’s first mega coastal economic zone (CEZ) at Jawaharlal Nehru Port (JNPT) in Maharashtra.
- The first of its kind mega CEZ will stretch along north Konkan region spread across Mumbai, Thane, Pune, Nashik and Raigarh.
- About 45 companies across auto, telecom and IT sectors will soon bid for 200 hectares of land to set up manufacturing units in zone.
About Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust
- The Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust (JNPT) at Navi Mumbai (formerly known as the Nhava Sheva Port) located within the Mumbai harbour on the west coast of India, was commissioned on 26th May 1989.
- It occupies a place of prominence among the major Indian ports.
- It is the second youngest and one of the most modern major ports of the country. Though it was initially planned to be a “satellite port” to the Mumbai Port with the purpose of decongesting traffic at the latter, eventually it was developed as an independent port on its own right and it became the country’s largest container port.
- Being one of the oldest ports in India, the Mumbai port was proving to be structurally inadequate to meet the requirements of modern cargo handling.
- There was an urgent need for a new port in the Mumbai region, which eventually led to the birth of JNPT in 1989.
Source:Economic Times & Wiki