Essar Ports set to boost east coast presence

Under the concession agreement with Visakhapatnam Port Trust, Essar will develop and operate the berths on BOT basis over a period of 30 years at a cost of Rs 1,200 crore (US$194m).

Rajiv Agarwal, managing director, Essar Ports, said: “We will develop the terminal to create one of the most competitive, modernised, world class facilities.”

The three berths (two outer berths and one inner harbour berth) will have a combined capacity of 23 million metro tonnes per annum (MMTPA).

This will increase Essar’s total capacity for iron ore export on the east coast to 39 MMTPA with four highly mechanised iron ore berths – three in Visakhapatnam port and one in Paradip Port.

“This project will significantly increase our third party cargo handling capacity and also boost our presence in the east coast. Iron ore export traffic at Vizag will increase substantially due to the competitiveness of this terminal which will facilitate industrial growth in the region,” Mr Agarwal added.

Vishakhapatnam handled 12.3 million tones of iron ore during FY 13 and the port says this traffic is “readily available” for the new berths.