Two ports in Maharashtra will be developed by private players and these will be operational within a year, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said on Friday. The Dighi and Jaigarh ports, located in coastal Konkan, will be developed by private parties, he said.

Besides these, the foundation stone of Karanja port at Raigad has been laid and it is expected to be developed in 2-3 years, he told a group of journalists over breakfast at his official residence here. The government was also working on development of ports in Navi Mumbai, he said.

Fadnavis said the government was contemplating building jail complexes housing lower courts across the state, as per the new jail manual.

Two days back, Fadnavis, while replying to a calling attention motion, had said that central prisons, which were in the vicinity of thick residential areas and business districts, were being shifted outside the city limits.

Elaborating on the issue, he said that the new complexes proposed to be developed would include jails, lower courts and sessions courts. At present, the undertrials and convicts are taken from the central jails to court premises for hearings, for which security personnel are required, he said, adding that there are expenses on transportation and the process is time-consuming.

Once the jail complexes are ready, the trial courts can hold hearings within the premises, he said.

"We will approach the High Court to set up trial courts in the complex itself," Fadnavis said.

At many places, the government has acquired land for setting up such complexes, he said.