Projects worth Rs 520 cr get under way at Ennore port

Union Minister for shipping, road transport and highways T R Baalu on Friday inaugurated six projects at the Ennore Port at a cost of about Rs 520 crore.

These include a Rs 250- crore marine liquid terminal, a deepened port basin for Rs 91 crore, roads at Rs 8.6 crore, project works on multipurpose general cargo berth with an investment of Rs 110 crore, and rail connectivity for Rs 51.60 crore.

The general cargo berth would be able to handle 200,000 cars and 500,000 tonne of cargo, he informed.

It may be recalled that the port had signed an agreement with Nissan Motor, last year. The berth is likely to be commissioned by July 2010, the time when Nissan would commence exports.

Speaking about the multi-liquid terminal, the minister said the country’s first common-user, integrated liquid jetty and tank terminal project was being developed on a build-operate-transfer basis by Ennore Tank Terminal Pvt Ltd, a special purpose vehicle promoted by independent bulk liquid storage company IMC Ltd.

The 360-metre berth’s capacity is 6,000-150,000 dwt (deadweight tonne). The storage capacity of the 42 tanks is 130,000 litres with a scope to increase further by 7,000 litres. The total cargo handling capacity is 3 million tonne a year.