The V.O. Chidambaranar Port Trust has achieved an all-time high traffic of 25.73 million tonnes for the year 2010-11 surpassing the previous record of 23.79 mt handled in 2009-10, registering 8.16 per cent growth rate.
The port, also, has handled 4,67,752 TEUs surpassing the previous years' container traffic of 4,39,948 TEUs registering a growth rate of 6.32 per cent.
Mr A. Subbiah, Chairman, VOC Port Trust, in a release said, that the record cargo handling performance of the port is 2.38 per cent higher than the target of 25.13 mt set by the Ministry. Equally, the container traffic is 5.11 per cent more than the target of 4,45,000 TEUs target set by the Ministry. The port has registered an all-time high operating income of Rs 259.89 crore with a net surplus (after tax) of Rs 101.30 crore, achieving for the first time a net surplus over Rs 100 crore, he mentioned.
He said that the Capital Dredging Project for dredging and deepening the approach channel and basin to cater to 12.8 m draught vessels is currently under progress and is expected to be completed next year.
Referring to ongoing works , he said for handling thermal coal for the NTPL Power project, the port is constructing a North Cargo Berth – I (NCB-I) at an estimated cost of Rs 37.54 crore. A North Cargo Berth – II (NCB-II) at an estimated cost of Rs. 332.16 crores under public-private partnership is currently under construction for handling bulk cargo.
Future projects
On future projects, he said, the project of conversion of 8{+t}{+h} Berth Container Terminal at an estimated cost of Rs 312.12 crore shall be taken up to augment additional container handling capacity of the port.