VO Chidambaranar Port at Tuticorin today signed a concession agreement with Dakshin Bharat Gateway Terminal Private Ltd, a SPV incorporated by ABG Container Handling Pvt. Ltd, Mumbai, to set up a container terminal at a cost of around Rs 312.23 crore.
Considering the growth in the container traffic is likely to improve in the country as a whole, VO Chidambaranar Port has planned to convert the berth no 8 at the port into a container terminal under BOT Basis for a period of 30 years.
The agreement, to convert the berth, was signed by Paul Antony, chairman, VO Chidambaranar Port Trust, and Saket Agarwal, director, ABG Container Handling Pvt. Ltd.
The port has accepted the highest gross revenue share of 55.19 per cent offered by ABG Container Handling Pvt. Ltd, Mumbai. Letter of agreement was issued by the port to ABG Container Handling Pvt Ltd on August 7, 2012.
The project for which the concession agreement is being signed would be executed on build, own & transfer basis, with a concession period of 30 years.
The estimated project cost is Rs 312.23 crore and would facilitate a capacity of 600,000 TEUs. The terminal shall start handling containers from middle of October 2012. The project will be completed and the facilities would be fully operational within 18 months.
Upon completion of this project, the Port will have a capacity to handle 1 million TEUs. The EXIM traders of the Hinterland, particularly the Tirupur, Coimbatore, Karur and Erode would be benefited by the additional container terminal.
The present container terminal of VO Chidambaranar Port is operated by PSA SICAL with a capacity of 417,000 TEUs. The third largest container handling port in the country has handled about 477,100 TEUs during the last financial year.
