The financially-troubled Cochin Port Trust is expected to have substantial improvement in its income in the long-term with the commissioning of a slew of new cement handling facilities, commissioning of the expanded refinery of the Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited in Kochi and full capacity utilisation of the LNG terminal here.
The new cement handling facilities that are expected to come up in the near future include Malabar and Penna cements. Six acres for the handling facility for Penna Cement has already been awarded. A similar parcel of land would be awarded to Malabar Cements, port sources said.
The other cement handling facilities include Ambuja and Ultratech, which have their handling facilities already up and running. Zuari Cement is expected to commission its facility in September.
“These cement terminals are expected to average three lakh tonnes a year and throughput can increase to one million tonnes each within about seven to eight years of their commissioning,” sources added.
At the rate of the initial throughput at the cement handling facilities, the port authority here would have an annual income of roughly Rs. 3.2 crore per terminal. The two cement terminals in operation now together have averaged about seven lakh tonnes last financial year.
Port sources said the arrival of the cement handling facilities would also have other spin off benefits in terms of transport of the commodity from Kochi.
About 30,000 lorry trips will be involved per year in evacuating cement from the Kochi terminals to other parts of the State. This translates into about 90 lorry trips per day.
Expansion of BPCL Kochi refinery will also augment income for the port. The refinery capacity is being raised from the current 9.5 million tonnes a year to 15.5 million tonnes. The capacity addition is scheduled to be completed early next year.
The capacity addition of six million tonnes a year and potential export throughput of two million tonnes can translate into about Rs. 60 crore in annual income for the port in cargo and vessel related charges.
Full utilisation of the idling capacity at the LNG terminal here can also result in substantial rise in income for the port.
The LNG terminal currently uses less than 10 per cent of its capacity and five-million-tonnes-a-year throughput at the terminal will result in the port earning at least an additional Rs. 70 crore.
Commissioning of the expanded BPCL refinery in Kochi and full capacity utilisation of the LNG terminal are also expected to augment the port’s revenue.
