Kochi box terminal project schedules for completion in Nov

Kochi: The handling capacity of major ports in the country is expected to touch 1,500 million tonnes by the end of the Eleventh Five-Year Plan and the required capacity will be achieved during the Plan period itself, the Union Shipping Minister, Mr T.R. Baalu, has said.

Speaking after the inauguration of the newly created infrastructure assets of the Kochi port, the Minister pointed out that the total handling capacity of major ports in 2007-08 is 519 million tonnes as against 345 million tonnes in 2004-05, an increase of 56 per cent.

He said his Ministry has initiated steps to commission 276 port development projects under NMDP before the Eleventh Plan and that things are moving at a faster pace.

He said that the 276 projects in the port sector and 111 for the shipping and inland water transport sector involve an investment of over Rs 1 lakh crore. Of this, 41 projects at a cost of Rs 5,710 crore have been completed while 165 projects at an investment of Rs 37,191 crore are at various stages of implementation.

The Minister said that the international container transhipment terminal (ICTT) project of Kochi port is expected to be fully operational by November this year and within a short period, the capacity of the port in handling containers will make a quantum jump from three lakh teus a year to 1 million teus a year. By the time the terminal is fully operational, it is expected to handle three million teus a year.

Earlier, the Minister visited the construction site of the ICTT as well as the progress of the work in connectivity projects such as rail and road network. Though the terminal construction and rail connectivity projects will be completed before November this year, the Minister indicated that there may be a likely delay in completing the road connectivity in the stipulated time frame.

Criticising the State Government for the delay in acquiring land for the road projects for ICTT, he pointed out that the lacklustre attitude of the State Government is evident in various land acquisition proceedings which is one of the main reasons for the delay in developing various road projects in the State.

The newly created infrastructure at the Kochi port which the Minister inaugurated included vessel traffic management system (VTMS), e-port, 110 kV substation and reconstructed NCB/BTP jetty.