Kakinada (Andhra Pradesh), Jan 5 (IANS): Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu on Friday laid foundation stone for a greenfield commercial port near Kona village in East Godavari district, to be developed by GMR Kakinada Gateway Port Ltd at a cost of Rs 3,000 crore.

The Kakinada Gateway Port is promoted by Kakinada SEZ (KSEZ), a subsidiary of GMR Infrastructure Limited, the flagship company of GMR Group.

Kakinada Gateway Port Limited had signed the Concession Agreement in September last year with the Director of Ports, Kakinada, Government of Andhra Pradesh for development of the port on DBFOT (Design, Build, Finance, Operate and Transfer) basis.

TCG Group's flagship company Haldia Petrochemicals Ltd. (HPL) on Friday signed MoU with Andhra Pradesh government to set up their Rs 60,000 crore refinery and petrochemical projects in Kakinada SEZ.

The proposed refinery and Petrochemical project in Kakinada SEZ over the years is expected to generate around 5 lakh direct and indirect jobs.

GMR Group officials said they aim to develop the region on the lines of Jurong Industrial Cluster in Singapore and Houston of the United States.

The port would be developed in an area of over 1,811 acres owned by KSEZ. The state government would lease 133 acres of sea front land for the period of concession.

The port is expected to handle coal, general cargo and liquid cargoes.

Naidu said that 974 km coastline of the State offers tremendous scope for port development and thus economic development and employment generation in the region.

BVN Rao, Chairman, Transportation & Urban Infrastructure of GMR Group, said the port would provide an excellent value proposition for the manufacturing industry to set up unit in the industrial park.