Essar Vizag Terminals' Q1 cargo handling jumps 35% to 2.65 mt

Essar Vizag Terminals (EVTL), a wholly owned subsidiary of Essar Ports, has registered a 35 per cent growth in cargo handling at 2.65 million tonnes (mt) in the first quarter of the current financial year (FY) compared to 1.96 mt in the year-ago period.

In May 2015, the company had taken over Vishakhapatnam Port Trust's (VPT) iron ore handling complex on a build-operate-transfer (BOT) basis for a period of 30 years. The Vizag terminal has a total handling capacity of 16 mt per annum. So far, Essar has invested Rs 725 crore in the facility with the commissioning in 2017.

Through the addition of this terminal Essar Ports has seen its third party cargo share jump with the likes of JSW, NMDC, MMTC, the company said. Once upgraded, the mechanised system will be able to reach a capacity of 8000 tonnes per hour, which will be one of the highest cargo-handling rates in major Indian ports, according to Essar.

Essar's iron-ore handling terminal at Vizag Port is an all-weather deep draft facility that has the wherewithal to serve the rapidly growing markets of South-East Asia, including China, Japan, and Korea. It can accommodate super capesize vessels and has dedicated rail-connectivity with Bacheli and Kirandal Mining sources, by which the facility has the advantage to serve western-sector of the country.