Text: Anusha B
Kamarajar Port Limited (KPL) erstwhile Ennore Port Ltd (EPL) marks its business in diversified areas viz, exports of vehicles, multicargo terminal, container terminal, LNG terminal with other prospects strewing which are yet to be finalised. To accommodate more manufacturers the port is also creating new berth to handle 300,00 cars annually and will be inaugurating its phase-1 of the container terminal by January 2016.
Currently, vehicle manufacturers like Nissan, Toyota, Ford, Ashok Leyland, Daimler and Scania export their vehicles to various countries through KPL and the former 3 manufacturers have inked an agreement with the port for exporting cars. The latter 3 manufacurers also coast its vehicles as and when it needs to use coast as its gateway to export but does not have any agreement signed with the port. The current berth that is available is serving the purpose with a capacity of 300,000 cars. The port can serve 600,000 cars with the second berth staging very soon.
M A Bhaskarachar, Chairman and Managing Director of KPL said, “Nissan contributes major business with Toyota and Ford quadrant the business equally. Daimler in the quadrant cannot be termed as voluminous but still a decent business with its truck exports. To become a major port in South India, we are also creating new berth to handle an additional 300,000 cars per annum. The investment from the port for the same is not figured out but this would be tendered out in a month or two. The third berth may be taking its shape post the success story of second berth but as of now the plans for the same are passive.”
The new container terminal, which is under construction will have a total capacity of 1.2 million twenty foot equivalent units (TEU), of which 0.8 million would be ready by January 2016. The remaining capacity of 0.4 million will be completed in the phase-2 and is expected to be completed before 2017. The construction of the container terminal is carried out by Adani Group at an investment of Rs 1,270 crore. Once the container terminal is fully operational, the port is looking to add up its revenue by exporting components to various countries.
Probing about the investment the port has made in the container terminal construction Bhaskarachar said, “Port is involved only in the dredging activities with an investment of Rs 100 crore against the phenomenal investment done by Adani Group aiding the construction of the container terminal. In addition to this, multi cargo terminal and LNG terminal are on the look out of securing cargo during transshipment. LNG will be honoured in a month’s time and the agreement is signed in June 2015 with the operations commence by July 2015 at an investment of Rs 4500 crore. LNG is planning to set up a re-gasification plant, which inherents its own advantages with respect to ambiance standards. This comes out with a capacity of 5 million tonnes and stages again with 2 equal cuts of 2.5 million tonnes each. Multi cargo terminal is tendered out and will soon dais its inauguration,” reveals Bhaskarachar.
Unique value proposition edges Kamarajar Port
Replying to the query on uniqueness of the port, Bhaskarachar opined that, “Compared to other ports Kamarajar Port has more than 650 acres of pollution-free land. We don’t have any hard core restrictions for entry during day hours. We have everything discussed transparently to assist the flow of business seamlessly. We even could support the vehicle manufacturers by offering value added services where lot of exporters feel the looks of the car go dusty and rework in terms of painting or cleaning has become imperative to restore the grace. The port could establish a paint store to support the same and gives the car a brand new appeal.”
The port is also ready to support the OEMs by providing land for storage to stall their components and other accessories. If the proposal is extended to the port subjecting the measure of land they look for, the port will auction the measure and the operators could use the area post successful auctioning. KPL is also contemplating starting a coastal service for the automotive industry to connect the southern and northern parts of the country.
KPL is also setting up Coal Berths 3 (CB3) for electricity board in addition to existing 2 berths (CB1&CB2) which already serves power generation. CB3 is stacked in the list and flags its operations with a capacity of 9 million tonnes. CB4 has taken its shape and getting awarded in a month’s time commissioning the same capacity of 9 million tonnes. Both are constructed with an investment of Rs 250 crore each and the investment is honored by the port.
With all these efforts getting realised the capacity will peak to 110 million tonne from its current 30 million tonne. The revenue with the existing 30 million tonne capacity accumulates to Rs 600 crore with a sizeable revenue in vehicle exports and the same will be proportionately increasing with 110 million capacity, 3 years down the line. The investment from the port will be close to Rs 2000 crore putting together all the prospects mentioned above and from the operators will be close to Rs 8000 crore. KPL will soon flag off its new leap and the success stories of the port continues perennially. ACI
