The Hindu Business Line : Chennai port lines up Rs 1,500-cr investments

Record handling
The Chennai port handled a record 53.41 mt for fiscal ended March 31, 2007.
Container throughput during 2006-07 reached an all time high of 0.88 million TEUs.

Chennai April 11 The Chennai Port Trust (ChPT) plans to invest around Rs 1,500 crore in the next two to three years on various projects, including a Rs 750-crore dedicated elevated expressway from the port to Maduraivoyal (up to National Highway 4), according to the Port Trust Chairman, Mr K. Suresh.

The Port Trust would modernise the port at a cost of Rs 200 crore, and of this Rs 40 crore has been spent on realignment of rail and road network inside the port for quicker movement of cargo, he told newspersons.

Handling Ships

Mr Suresh said Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu India Pvt Ltd in its business plan has suggested that the Chennai port should become a full-fledged container terminal to handle large number of ships, and also become a `car terminal'. An investment of around Rs 5,000 crore would be required to achieve a throughput of 5 million TEUs (twenty foot equivalent units) by 2027, roughly five times the present throughput.

The Chennai port handled a record 53.41 million tonnes (mt) for fiscal ended March 31, 2007, 13 per cent higher than 47.25 mt during the previous year. The port surpassed the Shipping Ministry's target of 52.20 mt.

Container Throughput

Of the total throughput, export was 22.94 mt (20.05 mt) and import was 30.47 mt (27.20 mt). Handling of POL (petroleum, oil and lubricants) reduced to 12.94 mt (13.21 mt). This was due to damage of a pipeline in September and a maintenance work for a month undertaken by the Chennai Petroleum Corporation Ltd, said Mr Suresh.

The port handled 10.48 mt of iron ore during 2006-07 compared with 9.46 mt the previous year. Container throughput during 2006-07 reached an all time high of 0.88 million TEUs, 20 per cent more than the previous year. The Chennai Container Terminal (P) Ltd, which runs the terminal, achieved container crane output of 21.31 moves per hour (moving a box from ship to shore and vice versa), he said.

Chennai retained the position as the premier car terminal, exporting 1,14,756 Hyundai cars in 2006-07 compared with 1,02,692 cars the previous year, an increase of 11.75 per cent, he said.

The ChPT in January signed a 12-year agreement with Hyundai Motors India Ltd to increase export of cars through the port. The agreement offers concessions in wharfage and vessel-related charges, including pilot charges, based on the number of cars exported by Hyundai and the gross registered tonnage of car carriers calling at the port in a financial year, he said.

Provisional net up 17%

The Chennai port has achieved a provisional net profit of Rs 156 crore in 2006-07, a rise of 17 per cent over the Rs 133 crore achieved in the previous year, according to Mr Suresh.

The provisional operating income for 2006-07 was Rs 531 crore (Rs 432 crore), an increase of 22.69 per cent. Cargo handling and storage contributed 52 per cent of the revenue; port and dock charges 24 per cent; finance and miscellaneous income 14 per cent and railway earnings 8 per cent, he told newspersons.

The port's provisional operating expenditure was Rs 348.61 crore (Rs 312.94 crore), an increase of 11.40 per cent. Contribution to salaries and wages was 48 per cent; other expenses like maintenance was 30 per cent; finance and miscellaneous expenditure was 13 per cent; depreciation was 7 per cent and contribution to Government towards the Central Industrial Security Force was 2 per cent, he said.

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