Essar Ports' Hazira terminal to handle 15 mn tonne third-party cargo

Terminal to handle third-party cargo for period of three years

Essar Ports today said it has received approval from Gujarat Maritime Board (GMB) to handle 15 million tonne of merchant cargo over three years and the company's Hazira terminal will be handling dry and liquid bulk along with containers.

The approval was granted under GMB's captive port policy where jetties built on captive licenses can handle third-party cargo up to a maximum of 50 percent of their total cargo handled.

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This approval stands to benefit the local industry who will now have access to a modern port facility. It will also increase the revenue to the government because of better utilizsation of port capacity. Hazira terminal has a capacity to handle 30 million tonne of cargo annually.

"Hazira terminal has a strong industrial hinterland. Various coal traders and other industrial customers have entered into agreements with us to handle their cargo through this terminal to take advantage of our deep draft and high mechanization, which result in significant cost advantages to our customers. Our all-weather terminal also presents opportunity for these customers to utilize port services when nearby Magdalla port closes during monsoon season," the release said quoting Rajiv Agarwal, managing director of the company.

The permission for handling third-party cargo to Hazira terminal was earlier provided on a case-to-case basis. The current permission allows it to handle 15 million tonne of commercial cargo over three years. Further approvals may be sought once the 5 million tonne of cargo is handled, said the company.

GMB will benefit from this arrangement since the wharfage charges it collects for the commercial cargo handled at Hazira terminal is 1.5 times the wharfage received by GMB at other ports.