Chennai port fixes rates for container facility

The Union government owned Chennai port has fixed rates for a new container loading facility it is building with private funds on par with the rates fixed for a container terminal at Jawaharlal Nehru port, also State-owned, near Mumbai.

Chennai port’s rate to be adopted for its new facility—converting an idle coal terminal into a container terminal—was approved by the Tariff Authority for Major Ports (TAMP), the tariff regulator, and notified on 10 October.

In terms of scope, the projects—one each on the east and west coasts—are vastly different, capacity and investments, with the Chennai facility nowhere near the size and scale of the terminal at JN port. Yet, Chennai port has adopted the JN port rate for the new container loading facility, the port’s third, by making use of a provision in the new tariff setting guideline for ports controlled by the Union government that was announced on 31 July.