Essar's Vadinar Port capacity rises to 58 MMTPA

Private sector port operator, Essar Ports Ltd (EPL) has commissioned 12 million metric tons per annum (MMTPA) capacity expansion project at its Vadinar terminal with a total investment of Rs 1,065 crore.

As a part of the expansion project, a new jetty was constructed for the handling of petroleum products, storage tanks and a road gantry.

The expansion puts Vadinar Power Company Limited's (VPCL) total handling capacity up to 58 MMTPA. The capacity addition is in line with Essar Oil’s refinery expansion to 18 MMTPA as part of the phase-one expansion and further to 20 MMTPA post an optimization project, which is due for completion by September 2012, a company statement said.

"The building of this additional capacity is in line with the future growth of the company. Essar Ports has committed to take the total port capacity to 158 MMTPA by 2013. The company expects to see revenue growth of over 35 per cent every year for the next few years based on increased realization and incremental traffic," said Rajiv Agarwal, managing director, EPL.

The further capacity expansion will be taken up at Salaya, Paradip and Haizra, raising the company's total handling capacity to 158 MMTPA by 2013. The company has chalked out a total capital expenditure worth Rs 9,300 crore for the expansion. Of this, the company has already spent more than Rs 6,300 crore.

EPL currently has two ports in operation at Hazira and Vadinar with cargo handling capacity of 30 MMTPA and 58 MMTPA respectively. The company plans to ramp up Hazira Port's capacity to 50 MMTPA.