Tuticorin port plans Rs 5,200-cr expansion

According to a senior TPT official, Rs 4,350 crore would be spent on the outer harbour development project, which would include two or three container terminals, one oil terminal, two coal terminal and a general cargo terminal. This part of the project would be executed in the PPP mode.

The inner harbour project, which will cost Rs 936 crore, will involve building of a coal berth and a general berth, and deepening of the draft from 10.7 metres to 12.8 metres to allow higher-capacity ships at the east cost port in Tamil Nadu.

With this expansion in place, the capacity of the port would double from the existing 20.55 million tonne to 40.60 million tonne of cargo, the official said.

Of the total investment in the inner harbour, a major portion will be towards dredging, which is estimated to cost Rs 538 crore. Of this, Rs 350 crore will be funded by the port through its internal fund and the Centre will bear the balance. Dredging work is likely to be completed in 18 months, the official said.

Once dredging is completed, the port will be able to handle fourth generation container vessels with a capacity of 3,000 twenty equivalent units (TEUs) to 4,000 TEUs. Currently, the port can handle container vessels up to 2,000 TEUs capacity.

The port will also be able to accommodate vessels with a capacity of 70,000 DWT (dead weight tonne) from the current 50,000 DWT. The increase in capacity will also reduce per tonne cost by 10-15 per cent for a shipper, the official said.

The expansion project would create an additional capacity of 40 million tonnes by the end of 2012 and an additional four million tonnes would be added by 2017.

Though the current outlay for this project was estimated at Rs 4,350 crore, it might increase to Rs 6,000 crore, if it was delayed by four to five years, the official said.

Tuticorin Port handled 21.48 million tonnes of cargo during 2006-07, registering 14 per cent growth over 2005-06 when the port handled 18.70 million tonnes. While the traffic volume for 2007-08 is yet to be tabulated, the target for 2008-09 is set at 24.06 million tonnes.