Tuticorin port handling capacity to be increased
The development would enable exporters to ship merchandise directly to the US and Europe from Tuticorin port, according to Pon Radhakrishnan.
Chennai: Deepening of the Tuticorin port to handle mother vessels of 1.3 lakh tonnage, increasing the depth from 14 m to 16.5 m, at an investment of Rs 3,000 crore are among the numerous plans to develop this port as a transshipment hub and it is expected to set the ball into motion before the Enayam port comes up in the neighbouring Kanyakumari district.
“At present the port can handle vessels with 60,000 tonnes capacity and this would be enhanced to handle 1,30,000 tonne capacity. This is expected to reduce logistic cost by 30 per cent. About 300 lakh ton handling capacity will be added to the existing 630 lakh tonne capacity and this increase the port’s handling capacity by 50 per cent,” asserts union minister of state for shipping and finance Pon Radhakrishnan.
To this extent, the Tuticorin port will be dredged to 16.5 meters from 14 meters now allowing it to handle vessels with more than twice the current 60,000 tonnage capacity. The Tuticorin port (V.O. Chidambaranar port) created a new record by handling 1,65,189 tonnes cargo on a single day on November 11 this year surpassing the previous single day record of 1,61,935 MT on April 15, 2017.
The capacity addition would enable exporters to ship their merchandise directly to the US and Europe from the Tuticorin port, according to Radhakrishnan, who is playing a crucial role in the development of Tamil Nadu through the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led BJP government’s Sagarmala initiative to realise India’s economic aspirations.
The overall objective of the project is to evolve a model of port-led development, whereby Indian ports become a major contributor to the country’s GDP.
Tuticorin port, known for pearl fishing, is an artificial deep-sea all weather port and is among the 12 major ports in India. It is situated alongside of Palk Strait and inside Gulf of Mannar. This port, with 14 berths, handled a total traffic of about 32 MT during 2014 and became the first Indian major port to implement Integrated Management System on October 16, 2017.