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Cocanada plans Rs 200-cr expansion of Kakinada port

Our Bureau

CHENNAI, July 12

COCANADA Company Private Ltd (CPCPL) plans a Rs. 200-crore expansion of the Kakinada port. CPCPL, the special purpose vehicle company of International Seaports (India) Private Ltd, (ISPL), started operating the existing three berths -- two multi-purpose and one liquid cargo -- at the deep water port of Kakinada from April 1, 1999.

Mr. T.V. Anantharaman, ISPL's Chief Executive, told Business Line that the expansion plan includes adding one more multi-purpose berth, procuring equipment and creating a 120-acre back-up area (the Andhra Pradesh Government has provided land for this) wi thin the port premises.

ISPL is a joint venture company with equal stakes held

by L&T Ltd, Precious Shipping of Thailand and Stevedoring Services of America.

He said earlier equipment was hired since enough cargo traffic was not coming to the port. The port was mainly handling liquid cargo such as phosphoric acid, sulphuric acid, ammonia, naphtha and edible oil, and some bulk cargoes such as coal, bentanite, feldspar and project cargo.

However, with traffic increasing consistently, the procurement of equipment has become a necessity. The company planned to acquire cranes and grabs for handling containers and coal, he said.

Financial closure for the expansion plan would be achieved in two months. The group companies would fund around 40 per cent, while the rest would be done through external sources, he added.

The company is talking to all major shipping lines, feeder operators, and others in the container trade, to bring boxes through the port. ``Everybody in the trade seems to be positive, and would start bringing boxes, once connectivity is provided by the lines. We are working on this,'' he said.

Mr. Anantharaman said as part of the expansion plan, the company deepened the three berths a few months ago and the approach channel to a uniform depth of 12 metres, from 9.5 metres, at a cost of Rs. 30 crores. The port is now able to handle vessels up t o 50,000 dead weight tonnes (DWT), he said.

The Kakinada port during the first quarter of the current fiscal year handled 70 vessels, with a volume of 4.54 lakh tonnes. Of this, liquid cargo was four lakh tonnes and the rest bulk cargo.

For the financial year ending March 31, 2000, the port handled 260 vessels, and the volume was 1.52 million tonnes. Of this, 1.50 lakh tonnes was liquid cargo, the rest bulk cargo, he said.