| In an effort to scale up its productivity, the Kolkata Port Trust (KoPT) has drawn up a plan to install four state-of-the art mobile harbour cranes at the Haldia dock.
|
| |
| "These mobile harbour cranes will be installed at berths number two and thirteen at the Haldia dock complex by September this year. KoPT has already invited tenders for this purpose", A K Chanda, chairman of KoPT told Business Standard.
|
| |
| The estimated cost of installation of these mobile harbour cranes alongwith the associated structures is pegged at around Rs 150 crore.
|
| |
| According to Chanda, installing these mobile harbour cranes would help enhance productivity of the two Haldia berths from the existing 8,000 ton to 20,000 ton per day.
|
| |
| Meanwhile, a new container freight station is set to be commissioned near the Kolkata dock within two weeks.
|
| |
| KoPT has already invited tenders for setting up three additional container freight terminals to meet the port's growing container throughput.
|
| |
| The port handled a container traffic of over 3,49,000 TEUs (twenty-feet equivalent units) in 2006-07.
|
| |
| On the proposal to set up two inland water terminals (IWT) at Kolkata and Haldia, Chanda said, "KoPT has already alloted land to the Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI) for setting up an IWT near the Kolkata dock. For Haldia, we need to acquire four to five acres of land belonging to private players."
|
| |
| KoPT has alloted 14,500 sq metre of land to the IWAI for the proposed inland water terminal to set up near the Kolkata dock. The port trust is also confident to offset the cargo loss of 10 million ton to be caused due to the 330-km Haldia-Paradip pipeline which is expected to go on stream within four to six weeks.
|
| |
| KoPT will lose around 10 million ton of liquid cargo due to the commissioning of the pipeline but the cargo loss is likely to progress in a phased manner, the KoPT chairman alleged
|
| |
| "KoPT is banking on the the upcoming steel projects in West Bengal like Videocon Industries, Jai Balaji Industries and JSW Steel as well as the capacity expansion planned by the existing steel plants to compensate its cargo loss to be caused by the Haldia-Paradip pipeline. Steel Authority of India Limited (Sail) has assured that they will provide 6 million ton of additional cargo per annum for the next fiscal", Chanda claimed.
|
| |
| In all, KoPT is expecting about an extra 12-14 milion ton of cargo per annum from the steel plants.
|
| |
| "Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) has also planned to expand capacity of its existing refinery at Haldia. Even though the port will lose liquid cargo, it will gain additional cargo in the form of petroleum products which will move through the Haldia port", he added. |
| |
|
| |
Content Guide
