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The Tuticorin Port Trust (TPT) has sought an assistance of Rs 2,800 crore from Official Development Assistance (ODA) of Japan to develop the Outer Harbour project, which was first proposed more than three years ago.
The port trust plans the project at a cost of Rs 4,360 crore to create an additional capacity of nearly 43 million tonnes (mt). While half the investment has been sought from the ODA through the Japan International Cooperation Agency, the remaining will be through public-private-partnership, according to Mr A. Subbiah, Chairman, Tuticorin Port Trust.
The project envisages construction of nine berths – three for multi cargo; three for containers; two for coal and one to handle vessels for the port trust. The container berth will have a quay length of nearly 1.5 km, he said.
The Ministry of Environment and Forest has put the outer harbour project on a “roll on” or a fast track. Once cleared, the project will be recommended to the ODA for funding, he told Business Line .
As suggested by the Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board, a public hearing was held in April last year to apprise local people on the likely benefits, including employment from the project, he said.
Feasibility report
While Consulting Engineering Services, New Delhi, has prepared a feasibility study report for the Outer Harbour Development, the Environmental Impact Assessment was done by National Institute of Oceanography, Goa. The Port Trust has planned to take up phase one development of Outer Harbour.
On its part the port trust will invest around Rs 300 crore in creating port connectivity such as rail and road infrastructure.
“The success of outer harbour project will heavily depend on how the hinterland in and around Tuticorin is developed. A number of industries should come up in parallel to support such a huge project,” said an industry source. In 2009-10, the port handled a record 23.78 million tonnes of cargo. The plan is to raise the handling capacity to 52 million tonnes by 2015-16 and thence to 73 million tonnes by 2019-20.
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