Apart from mechanisation and modernisation of the port facilities, the Visakhapatnam port has also taken up automation of its processes to help create a transparent and productive port facility that matches with the best in the country, VPT Deputy Chairman G.V.L. Satya Kumar has said.
The port looks forward to a bright year in 1914-15, as several development projects were on the verge of completion, and the port expects to handle not less than 65 million tonnes of cargo during the year, he said addressing the annual press conference here on Monday.
Reviewing the performance of the port during 2013-14, he said the port had handled 58.50 million tonnes of cargo during the year, a little less than the previous year. “Several projects in the PPP mode are in execution in the port and to an extent cargo-handling has been affected. Many of them will be completed during the current year. The dredging in the outer harbour has been completed to the extent of 95 per cent and in the inner harbour up to 46 per cent or so,” he said.
The port was fully geared to meet competition from the neighbouring private ports as well as other major ports, he said. The iron ore handling complex was being modernised and the container terminal extended. “We have added 15 million tonnes capacity during 2013-14, taking the capacity of the port now to 82.5 MTPA. An operating surplus of Rs. 261 crore was achieved during the year and Rs. 268 crore was spent during the year on projects. During the current fiscal, we will spend Rs. 374 crore,” he said.
Land acquisitionReferring to Dugarajapatnam major port project in Nellore district, in which Visakhapatnam port is the lead partner, he said land acquisition process was going on and several clearances had to be obtained. In the initial phase, the major port to be built in the public sector, would require 850 acres of land and ultimately 4,500 acres. A special purpose vehicle was being floated for executing the project.
