 "Kamaraj Port to develop SEZ or FTZ on a 650-acre land")
Speaking on the sidelines of the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) conference on ‘Approach to Integrated Maritime Systems’ in Chennai, MA Bhaskarachar, chairman and managing director, Kamaraj Port Limited, said that the Port had acquired around 650 acre from the salt department to develop an SEZ or a FTZ. “We will soon appoint a consultant to do the feasibility report. The port is planning to promote the zone primarily for manufacturing industries.”
He said the Port had signed an MoU with the Puducherry government on Wednesday to develop a port in the Union territory. A special purpose vehicle (SPV) will be floated shortly to promote the port, which will have two or three berths to handle clean cargo, containers and cruise. While the government will allot the land, Kamaraj Port will invest in developing the port, Bhaskarachar said.
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The Kamaraj Port also held talks with the Tamil Nadu Tourism Development Corporation to start a cruise service from Ennore, about 45 km from Chennai, to Kanyakumari via tourist destinations of Mahabalipuram, Puducherry and Rameswaram. Tenders will be opened for an operator shortly, he said.
On the ongoing projects at Kamaraj Port, Bhaskarachar said the port would add three to five berths in the next three years, including one for container terminal (at a cost of over Rs 1,200 crore), one for a multi-cargo berth and one for coal. While these projects would be developed by private players, the port would invest around Rs 220 crore during this year in dredging of berths and to create other infra like railway yards.