The Shipping Ministry has approved the construction of a multi-purpose cargo handling berth at Ennore port on a public-private partnership mode at a cost of Rs 151 crore.

The Ministry gave its approval on December 20 to construct the berth with a quay length of 270 m. It will have an annual handling capacity of two million tonnes, said an official of the Ennore Port Ltd who did not want to be named.

Multi-purpose berth The berth will be built next to the planned container terminal berth and offered to a private company for 30 years. It will have a depth of 16 m and will be ready in the next two years, he said. Ennore port already has a multi-purpose cargo berth. However, nearly 70 per cent of it is being used for export of cars. It will become 100 per cent in a couple of years necessitating the need for an additional multi-cargo handling berth, he said. The official said proposed commodities to be handled at the new berth could be those not covered by other cargo specific terminals at the port such as coal, liquid cargo, iron ore, container and automobile.

The concessionaire has the option of handling fertiliser and bulk cement, provided the company first completes the installation and commissioning of closed conveyor system and storage silos only through which such cargoes are handled.

Target commodities The target commodities for the new cargo berth include granite, timber logs, grain, bagged cargoes, including sugar, cobble stone, steel and project cargo, he said. The need for a multi-cargo terminal catering to cargoes that do not generate much dust or pollution during handling has been felt. In addition, the project and over dimensional cargo shippers and importers also have felt the need for such a terminal, he said.

>raja.simhan@thehindu.co.in

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