However, various industry experts have warned that a plan must be put in place to develop the necessary supporting landside and logistics infrastructure to allow cargo to be swiftly moved away from terminals. Building ports in a hurry, it is argued, could result in ports simply acting as coastal warehouses; they need adequate road and rail links.
Rapid port expansion is not limited to Andhra Pradesh; Odisha and Tamil Nadu also want to increase both capacity and the number of ports they have.
The view of the Dredging Corporation of India is there are linked ecological costs and consequences that also have to be taken into account. Its managing director, Capt DK Mohanty, suggests that a better approach might be to have a few efficient, but well-maintained ports, or risk seeing the coastline ruined.