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Visakhapatnam Port Trust (VPT) has signed two agreements totalling Rs 1,173 crore to upgrade an ore handling complex and to add a new berth.
It signed an agreement with Vadinar Oil Terminal of the Essar Group to upgrade an ore handling complex on a private-public-partnership (PPP) mode at a cost of Rs 845.41 crore. VPT Chairman R.P.S. Kahlon signed the agreement with Rajiv Agarwal, Managing Director, Essar Ltd. The terminal will handle 23 million tonne (mt) of cargo annually.
The project will upgrade a 40-year-old facility in the outer harbour to receive up to 2 lakh DWT (dead weight tonne) iron ore vessels and develop a new facility in the inner harbour to load Panamax-size vessels through an integrated mechanised handling system.
VPT also signed an agreement with Adani Vizag Coal Terminal Pvt Ltd to operate an EQ-1 mechanised coal handling facility on PPP mode, costing Rs 323.81 crore. Kahlon signed the agreement with G.J. Rao, Director, Adani Ports and SEZ Ltd. The terminal’s capacity is to handle 6.41 mt annually.
Both the agreements were signed in the presence of shipping minister G.K. Vasan.
Vasan congratulated VPT for taking up eight projects on PPP at an estimated cost of Rs 3,250 crore, including the two signed today.
VPT will soon extend the container terminal at the outer harbour at an estimated cost of Rs 633.11 crore. With the expansion and modernisation plans, the port will add 82 mt capacity to reach 150 mt by the 2020, he said.
Vasan, through a video-conference, inaugurated a unified command and control centre based in Visakhapatnam. The facility envisages monitoring and controlling the entire gamut of port operations in a cross-functional and collaborative environment.
raja.simhan@thehindu.co.in
(This article has been corrected for a factual error)
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