Deepwater port with 1,000-acre hub

Tuticorin port development has been redesigned with a Rs.2,000 crore project to make it a deep-water port on the East West trade route, Shipping Minister Nitin Gadkari said on 12 Dec 2018.

“In order to make the Tuticorin port a mainline port we have redesigned the development project of Rs.2,000 crore,” he said.

Deepening of the port would be done in less than Rs.500 crore for vessels with draft of 16 meters berthing, he added.

Tuticorin has huge potential to become a major industrial hub.

“We are planning to develop a 1,000-acre industrial area similar to Jawaharlal Nehru Port Terminal (JNPT) in this port,” he announced.

Competitive Port tariff, improved infrastructure and customer friendly approach will make Tuticorin Port more reliable and competitive, he added.

Gadkari flagged off first container mainline vessel at Tuticorin on 12 Dec 2018, saying it will be a game changer in container traffic from South India.

At present containers from Tuticorin to Far East countries viz Malaysia, Singapore, China and Hong Kong are transited by the feeder vessels to Colombo where they are further connected to the mother vessel.

With Mainline call being done directly at Tuticorin, there will be saving on account of the transshipment cost.

EXIM trade will benefit and there will be a saving of approximately US$50 per container as handling of container at Colombo will not be required.

This service will benefit importers and exporters in terms of saving transshipment cost and transit time.

With the strategic location of the Port being so close to the East West Trade route and a draft of 16m, the Port is poised to attract more mainline vessels and has the potential to become a transshipment hub of South India.

In the last four years, Tuticorin Port has invested Rs.1,500 crore on infrastructure and logistics capacity. fiinews.com