The Hindu Business Line : Concor sees brighter days ahead for Balasore ICD

AFTER having remained virtually in a dormant state for the past several years, Orissa's Balasore inland container depot (ICD), built by the Container Corporation of India (Concor) at an estimated cost of Rs 5 crore, is slowly waking up.

Ever since April this year, it has started handling container rakes almost on a regular basis. It all started with Balasore Alloy's shipments of ferro chrome to Visakhapatnam. In past three months, six rakes, each carrying 70 containers, were handled by the ICD. "We are hoping that the present trend of two rakes a month on an average will continue," said a spokesman for Concor.

Concor's hope for the Balasore ICD's prospects of brighter days ahead has been bolstered by the firm indication that several other companies, mostly makers of iron, steel and other metals that have come up in the State in recent times, too will start using the ICD for handling their domestic shipments.

Thus, Visa Steel has already sent through the ICD one rake of pig iron to north India. Another rake is due for shipment shortly. The company is likely to send through the ICD four rakes of pig iron every month for dispatches to various destinations, it is learnt.

Mesco, another company in the iron belt of Orissa, too is to use the ICD to move about four rakes of pig iron a month to various locations within the country. However, the ICD's throughput is to receive a big boost from October onwards when the Jindals will start dispatching through the ICD large quantities of ferro chrome to various domestic locations. The indication is that it will start with 4,000 tonnes, likely to go up to 12,000 tonnes per month.

Once the throughput level achieves certain amount of stability, the Concor will start providing terminal handling facilities complete with crane, reach stacker and forklifts and other handling equipment at the ICD. "We will outsource the equipment," said the spokesman, pointing out that right now it was all manual handling.

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