Port to invest Rs 126 cr for cargo handling

The Chennai Port is expected to see an investment of Rs 126 crore for the current fiscal year, with majority of it is going to increase its car handling capacity. It is also looking at captive wind mill projects to become green port, according to a senior official from the Port.

“We are investing around Rs 100 crore on expanding the Ro-Ro cum multipurpose berth to handle more cars. Another around Rs 26 crore would go into setting up of a barge jetty,” said Atulya Misra, chairman of Chennai Port.

According to an announcement from the Port authority, the Chennai port is the largest exporter of cars in India, exporting 2,52,640 cars in 2011-12 from various companies including Hyundai, Nissan, Ford, Mitsubishi and Caterpillar.

The Ro-Ro facility, to come up through public private partnership at an estimated cost of Rs 100 crore, is expected to augment port capacity by one million tonne. Almost 16 firms have responded to the request for quotation (RFQ), said the latest announcement. The project is expected to be completed by November 2014.

The barge jetty, to come up with an investment of Rs 26 crore, is planned at the port’s Bharathi Dock, to cater for bunkers and edible oil using the shallow water front. Around seven firms submitted RFQ and the applications are under scruitiny. The project is scheduled to be awarded during the current fiscal year and would commence operations by September 2013.

It is also planning a 10 MW wind farm project in Tirunelveli for its captive purposes. The project, which would be through a PPP, is expected to complete by August 2013 with an estimated cost of around Rs 79 crore. It is also looking at setting up windmills on the breakwaters of Chennai Port on PPP model. As per a document issued on March, 2012, the port is procuring 15 lakh units of electricity per month from the Tamil Nadu Electricity Board (TNEB) and plans are to become a green port through renewable energy generation initiatives.

The Port is also expecting environmental clearances from the Ministry of Environment and Forest, for its Rs 3,686 crore mega container terminal project of 4 M TEU capacity, to be set up through PPP.

Besides, the authority is also expected to sign a formal lease agreement with State Industries Promotion Corporation of Tamil Nadu (SIPCOT) by end of June, this year, for 125 acre of land taken on long lease for its Rajiv Gandhi Dry Port, to be set up at Sriperumbudur, near Chennai.

The project, to be developed as a multi-model logistics hub and dry port to cater to containerised traffic for Chennai Port, is expected to come up witht an estimated cost of Rs 415 crore. This, along with and elevated corridor, would consolidate the position of Chennai Port as a container hub on east coast of India and would facilitate enhancement of the port capacity, added the authority.