Tuticorin port setting up 4 berths

In order to handle more quantity of cargoes like coal, copper concentrates, rock phosphate, the VO Chidambaranar Port at Tuticorin is setting up four cargo berths.

S Natarajan, Chairman of the port said construction of the north cargo berth (NCB)-II is in progress and it would be completed by March 2014 with a capacity of 7.20 mn tpa.

The port is also setting up NCB – III at an estimated cost of Rs 420 crore under the public-private partnership, raising the capacity to 9.15 mn tpa.

Besides, it is developing NCB-IV at an estimated cost of Rs 355 crore and the construction is expected to be completed by June 15.

According to Port Chairman S Natarajan, the Ministry of Shipping has indicated the requirement of coal to be handled by the port as 242.16 lakh tonne by 2014-15 and 300 lakh tonne by 2019-20.

At the north cargo berth (NCB), coal would be transported to the Neyveli Thermal Power Plant through conveyors, raising the portÂ’s capacity by 6.30 million tonne a year (mn tpa).