Essar Ports expects to raise capacity to 181 mn t

Agency reports indicate that the cargo handling capacity of Essar Ports may rise from the present
104 million tonne (mn t) per annum to 181 mn t by
2015-16, a growth of 74 percent.

The company plans to add 23 mn t capacity in its portfolio by modernising three existing iron ore berths at Visakhapatnam port.

It may be noted that the Visakhapatnam Port Trust awarded the Rs 845 crore contract to mechanise and operate these three berths to Essar Ports as the latter
offered the highest revenue share of 31.01 per cent.

For this contract, the firm hopes to complete formalities and transfer assets in next 4-5 months and immediately after that, it plans to begin operations.

Besides the contract for iron ore berths, the firm is constructing some port facilities in other parts of the country. All these together would raise the capacity of the firm to 181 mn t by 2015-16.

The company, which primarily handles captive cargo meant for other Essar group firms like Essar Steel, is now aiming to expand share of its third party cargo handling capacity to 25 per cent of company’s total cargo handling against current level of only 5 per cent.

During Jan-Mar 2013, the firm announced a net profit of Rs 92 crore compared to a net loss of Rs 61.5 crore in the year-ago period.