Expansion
of capacity in the existing container terminals in the Chennai port is more or
less ruled out because of the structural limitations in increasing the draft of
the terminals.
The draft could be increased to 15
meters at best.
The
average draft in the two terminals run by the DP World and PSA Singapore is
currently around 14 meters. The draft could be increased to 15 meters at best.
Beyond that it is not possible due to structural limitations, according to a
Port Official.
The
official said the Port administration is therefore toying with the idea of
expanding the container terminal at the nearby Kamarajar port Ennore which is
owned by the Chennai port.
The expansion project is still at a
preliminary stage.
The
lone container terminal at Kamarajar port taken on lease by the Adani group has
not done well during the last four years. Adanis own the Katupalli port which
is situated adjacent to Kamarajar port. Trade sources said the Adani group is
concentrating on container traffic from its own port. Hence container handling
has not picked at the Kamarajar port.
Evacuation issues affected terminals in
Chennai Port
Chennai
Port had pioneered container handling having started the facility way back in
1980 when JNPT and Mundra Ports, the current leaders in container handling, did
not exist. But the terminals in Chennai Port suffered a setback due to
evacuation issues leading to congestion.
The
Ennore Manali Road improvement program EMRIP project to provide dedicated lanes
from the terminals to Kolkata high way took nearly 15 years to complete due to
issues created by fishermen of Cassimode. The ambitious Maduravoyal corridor
project took off in 2009 but got stuck in 2011 and yet to get resumed due to
bureaucratic red tape. Union Highways ministry is sitting on the project for
the last few months.
Consequently
the four container terminals in the Chennai region handle around 2.5 million
TEUs on an average per year as against over five million TEUs in Mundra Port
alone in Gujarat. Gujarat also has a string of private ports which are also
doing well in container traffic.
The
turnover of the five container terminals in JNPT in Maharashtra is also in the
range of over five million TEUs. Both the ports have excellent port
infrastructure and world class rail connectivity. The railways have spent
nearly rs two lakh crores in the last five years to construct to the western
dedicated freight corridors which connect both these ports to the North Indian
hinterland, the main consuming market and an emerging manufacturing base. |