Kamarajar Port, formerly known as Ennore Port, has started constructing three coal berths that would be ready by March 2018, said a top official.
“We will be investing close to ₹1,000 crore on building two new berths and converting the existing iron ore berth into a coal berth,” said M.A. Bhaskarachar, chairman-cum-managing director, Kamarajar Port.
With the addition of three more coal berths, the cumulative coal handling capacity of KPL will touch 64 million tonnes per annum. The new berths will add 36 million tonnes of coal per annum. Besides, the port handles 3 million tonnes liquid cargo, 3 million tonnes of general cargo and two million tonnes multi-cargo and containers.
“Our plan is to increase total cargo volume of the port from the existing 43.6 million tonnes to 84.6 million tonnes by March 2018. The commissioning of the IOC-LNG terminal will get us another 5 million tonnes per annum. Even then, KPL will predominantly handle coal accounting for 60% of overall cargo,” he said.
Out of the planned capital expenditure of ₹1,000 crore, IOC and SICAL will invest ₹500 crore and balance will be met through internal accruals.
GST impact
Following a drastic cut in the prices of cars in the post Goods and Services Tax (GST) era, Mr. Bhaskarachar feels it would push the exports up as several countries might find the Indian cars attractive. This would force, several car carriers to visit our port.
During 2016-17, KPL exported 2.25 lakh of cars. This year, the Port has drawn up plans to export three lakh cars. The major contributors are Toyota, Ford, Honda, Nissan, Hyundai, Renault, Daimler, Ashok Leyland and Scania. Hyundai also used coastal movement to move its cars from Chennai to Pipavav.
“Last year, we were able to move only 20,000 cars through coastal movement. This year, it would be 50,000 units. Besides, a carrier has sought our permission to bring in a large ship. It will start calling our Port by October,” he said.
