Kamarajar Port Ltd. (KPL), as part of its expansion programme, has taken up several new projects involving an investment of over ₹1,000 crore, to increase its cargo-handling capacity by about 60% over the next two years.
“Currently, we have a capacity to handle 48 million tonnes of cargo per annum through eight berths,” said Sunil Paliwal, chairman and MD, KPL.
“We will be expanding our cargo-handling capacity by 12 million tonnes by May 2020 and 18 million tonnes by 2021, respectively. With this, we will be adding three more berths and raising the total capacity to 78 million tonnes per annum,” he said.
“All the new berths will handle coal. Coal berth terminal III and IV with 18 million tonnes capacity is reserved for Tangedco,” he said.
KPL had spent almost ₹600 crore on building jetties and capital dredging, while Tangedco had spent ₹450 crore for coal berth terminal III and IV, said industry sources.
Sical’s iron ore terminal, which has been lying idle for the last few years due to the Madras High Court’s ban on handling dusty cargo, is being converted into a coal berth at a cost of ₹220 crore. Presently, the private player is putting up unloaders, material equipment and conveyor belts. It is meant to handle coal consignments of independent power producers and would be ready soon.
Meanwhile, work on Adani’s ₹800-crore container terminal second phase has commenced. It is expected to operational by October 2021. It would raise the total handling capacity to 1.4 TEUs from the present 0.8 TEUs.
KPL, which is a wholly owned subsidiary of Chennai Port Trust, ended FY20 by handling 31.75 million tonnes of cargo, or down 7.92%. It posted a revenue of ₹702 crore (₹707 crore).
On the export front, last year KPL handled almost two lakh vehicles through roll-on roll-off vessels and it is set to cross the two-lakh mark during FY21, a port official said.
