A puja was performed on Monday at the east quay 1A berth of the Visakhapatnam port to begin work for building a fully mechanised coal berth, a port press release said. Port chairman Ajeya Kallam performed the bhoomi puja. It will be operational in 24 months and the estimated cost is Rs 390 crore.
SEW Vizag Coal Terminal Private Ltd signed a concession agreement with the Visakhapatnam port trust on February 3 to take up the design-build-finance-operate-transfer project for 30 years. The berth will be designed to handle 7.36 million tonnes of coal a year and will be of great use to thermal coal importers. The berth will have fully mechanised systems such as ship loaders, wagon-tippler stations, stacker reclaimers and conveyor systems. It will be built to global standards.
It will have a fire protection system, a water-and-sludge management system and a dedicated green belt to protect the environs.