Visakhapatnam Port Authority (VPA) handled nearly 60 million tonnes of cargo, as of December 31, 2023.
Speaking to the media here on Wednesday, VPA Chairman M. Angamuthu said that by the end of the 2023-24 financial year, the figure would have crossed 80 million tonnes, which will be the highest so far.
“Cargo handling has gone up by about 9 per cent compared to the corresponding period last year and the pre-berthing detention period has reduced by about 68%. The turnaround time has also reduced by about 11% and idle time at berth has reduced by 12%. VPA has also improved its container business by about 42%.
Cruise liners
Mr. Angamuthu said that the international cruise terminal in Visakhapatnam, which has been completed with the support of the Union Government, will go operational soon.
“We are in talks with a couple of cruise liners and very soon, the circuit between Vizag, Chennai and Colombo will start. We are also looking at exploring Southeast Asian countries and linking it up to Kolkata port,” he said.
“We are already in talks with Littoral Cruises Limited and have signed an MoU for the Chennai-Singapore route via Visakhapatnam. Littoral also plans to run cruise services connecting India, Sri Lanka and Maldives with an investment of ₹1,200 crore,” Mr. Angamuthu said.
Landlord port
The chairman added that by 2030, VPA will fully transform into a landlord port. The port is going for an asset-light model by offering three projects on Public-Private Partnership (PPP) model for mechanisation of berths.
In the next five years, VPA is likely to handle about 75% of the total throughput through PPP terminals and by the end of 2030, VPA is likely to inch towards 100% handling through PPP terminals in addition to captive cargo from PSUs and captive customers, he said.
The chairman added that the focus is more on developing the rail network and inland shipping to reduce the load on the roads.
“Right now, the railway network takes care of our cargo movement to the tune of about 25% and we intend to improve it to 60%. We also intend to increase the coastal shipping from 22% to 30%,” he said.
To provide hassle-free flow of traffic from the port to NH-16, VPA and NHAI have taken up the widening of existing four-lane roads to 10-lane roads from Convent Junction to Sheelanagar at a cost of ₹501.65 crore. The work has been awarded by NHAI and will be completed in two years.
The port is moving towards carbon neutrality by striving to become the first port to run entirely on solar power. The port achieved self-sustainability in its energy requirement by installing and operating a 10 MW solar power plant. Another 15 MW solar power generation is in the pipeline, he said.
VPA has developed greenery in the port vicinity with 5,65,500 plants on 650 acres, said Mr. Angamuthu.
“We are following the Maritime India vision and by 2047, VPA will be on par with all the top ports in the world, in terms of cargo handling, pollution and other aspects,” said the chairman.
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