Another minor port to come up in Cuddalore district

The Tamil Nadu Government has revived plans to develop a minor port at Silambimangalam in Cuddalore district to meet future logistics demand of cement, sugar and textile industries in the region.

Silambimangalam port has a huge potential as this region has been declared as a Petroleum, Chemicals and Petrochemicals Investment Region by the Centre. Thermal power plants based on imported coal are also coming up in the area, according to Government sources.

The existing Cuddalore minor port, which is around 25 km north off Silambimangalam, cannot be expanded due to draft restriction. Approach to the port is also a challenge, sources said.

The State Government had earlier planned a shipyard-cum-minor port at Silambimangalam. However, the project did not take off.

At Silambimangalam, there is a natural depth of 10 m available at one nautical mile from the shore. With another 5 metres of dredging, the port can handle Panamax size vessels. Silambimangalam minor port falls between Annapanpettai village in the north and Pudukuppam village in the south. On the northern side, Nagarjuna Oil Corporation is developing the Thiruchopuram port and on the southern side IL&FS is developing a captive port Parangipettai with a thermal power plant, sources said. Tamil Nadu has the second longest coastline of 1,076 km with 22 minor ports out of which seven are government ports and 15 are captives.

Says J Krishnan, Chairman, Logistics Committee of Madras Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Silambimangalam is an ideal location to have a minor port. Liquid cargoes and possible CNG from Cauvery delta will ensure base cargoes and other commodities will add to the throughput.

Access to the East Coast Road, which is within a few km, will ensure road connectivity and this road is expected to be four-laned. Cuddalore junction offers railway connectivity to southern districts and also western Tamil Nadu.

Ishwar Achanta, co-promoter and joint managing director of Portman India Private Ltd, which provides port management services, said to construct a minor port, around ₹500 crore would be required to construct breakwater, dredging and a single berth capable of handling a Panamax vessel.

If an arc is drawn with Cuddalore as the hub, Silambimangalam port can tap industrial clusters from Kanchipuram to Thanjavur and Chennai to Sivaganga covering places like Villupuram, Salem, Perambalur, Tiruchi, Thanjavur, Nagai and Thiruvarur. It can strech to Coimbatore and southern Kerala and some parts of Karnataka, he said.