Essar Ports Ltd (EPL) has taken over the government-owned Visakhapatnam Port Trust’s iron ore handling complex on a build-operate-transfer basis for 30 years.
Essar Vizag Terminals, a wholly-owned subsidiary of EPL, will build three berths (two outer harbour berths and one inner one) with a combined capacity of 23 million tonnes per annum (mtpa) in two phases.
“Enhancing the cargo handling capacity and mechanisation of port facilities for efficient management is crucial for long-term sustenance. We are very sure that Essar will develop the OHC facility with latest state-of-the-art handling facilities and achieve higher loading rate thereby reducing the overall turnaround by at least 50 per cent,” said MT Krishna Babu, Chairman of Visakhapatnam Port Trust.
“The facility is well placed to cater to both the domestic and international steel industry. It will serve major iron ore consuming countries like China, Japan, South Korea in addition to coastal movement within India,” said Rajiv Agarwal, CEO & Managing Director, EPL.
“The facility has dedicated rail connectivity to India’s iron ore mining belt. This, along with the mechanised CQ III facility in Paradip port, will take Essar Port’s total east-coast, iron ore handling capacity to 39 mtpa.”
Ch Satyanand, CEO, Essar Vizag Terminals, added: “It is a proud moment for us as we will now be operating Vizag Port’s prestigious mechanised iron-ore handling complex. We expect to achieve one of the highest cargo-handling capacities across ports in India.”
Essar Vizag has made an upfront payment of ₹185 crore to the Port Trust for taking over the ore handling complex.
In addition, the company will also pay a revenue share to the port. The Vizag port had handled close to 14 mt of iron ore in FY-14, the highest by any port in the country.