After a gap of nine months, Chennai Port Trust (ChPT) has decided to revive three major projects.
First in the agenda is the revival of ‘outer harbour project’. A proposal to this effect will be placed at its board of trustees meeting scheduled for August 6.
Known as mega container terminal, the Rs.3,686-crore project was deferred thrice in the last four years due to reasons such as poor response and low revenue share offered by the bidders. The delay resulted in the project cost escalating to Rs.5,090 crore. To make the project attractive, ChPT renamed the project as outer harbour project that would handle different types of commodities.
“In the first two rounds, Essar Ports and Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone evinced keen interest in constructing the mega container terminal. But they lost interest due to lapse of time. ChPT has to move fast to revive this project as Ennore Port is likely to start the container operations within two years,” said a Trustee.
Having failed in its earlier attempt to convert the coal berth of Jawahar Dock into a cargo terminal, ChPT is planning to remodel it. Jawahar Dock has a 12-meter draught and it can be used for handling multi-purpose cargoes such as steel, coil and logs, said a ChPT official.
ChPT is also planning to develop dry dock facility at its century-old boat basin and timber pond.
