Sand Mining for Deep draft green filed Vadhvan Port for reclamation for creation of offshore land.

The Vadhavan Port Project Ltd.(VPPL) is developing deep draft greenfield Vadhvan Port Project in Palghar District. The Port is to be created on reclaimed land of 1448 ha. The reclaimed land will be created in the sea, involving filling of sand of about 200 Million CuM. The sand will be dredged at a place in the sea which is 60 km from site and 50 km off coast of Daman. For the purpose of dredging 10277.1 ha (102.77 Sq.KM) area on the off shore has been reserved by the Ministry of Mines for the said purpose. The detailed study was carried out by IIT Madras by taking actual bore holes at site and the samples collected had been tested. IIT Madras has certified that the said sand is fit for the reclamation purpose. JNPA had made an application to the Ministry of Mines for reservation and reclamation of the sand in Oct 2023. The Ministry of Mines reserved the said area for mining for VPPL on 21.12.2023 vide Govt. Notification. Today i.e. on 28 th February 2025 the Ministry of Mines has issued Mining Licence under Offshore Area Mineral (Development & Regulations) Act 2006 for a period of 10 years. The Letter of Intent (LOI) has been handed over by Minister of Mines & Coal Shri G. Kishan Reddy in the presence of Shri Devendra Fadnavis the Hon’ble Chief Minister of Maharashtra to CMD VPPL and Chairman JNPA Shri Unmesh Sharad Wagh, IRS. The Secretary Mines of Govt. of India Shri V. Kantha Rao, IAS and Hon’ble Minister of Mines Govt. of Maharashtra Shri Shambhuraj Desai was also present The cost of 2000 Million CuM sand from land is Rs.12000 crores which includes Rs.1440 crores as royalty to GOI. But sand from the sea has saved Rs.6000 Crores as against sand and murum used from the land sources. Apart from the savings in cost the mining from the sea has negligible environmental impact compared to the mining on land.