Kamarajar Port posts pre-tax profit of Rs 421 cr

Ennore-based Kamarajar Port Ltd posted a 5 per cent growth in pre-tax profit to Rs 421.47 crore in 2014-15 as against Rs 400.19 crore registered during the previous year. Operating income was up 12.3 per cent to Rs 563.64 crore for the period as compared with Rs 501.93 crore.

Throughput increased 10.6 per cent to 30.25 million tonne as against 27.34 mt. The major share of the throughput was imports of coal by the Tamil Nadu Electricity Board (TNEB). 

"We have posted over 12 per cent increase in operating income and over 5 per cent in profit. We were not expecting a major jump, since there were no more new terminals coming into operation. We expect a huge jump in the year 2016-17," said M S Bhaskarachar, chairman-cum-managing director, Kamarajar Port Ltd. The port expects to achieve cargo throughput of 32.2 mt during FY16, and a higher throughput for the year after, on the back of proposed capacity expansion. 

During the 12th Five Year Plan, it plans to increase its capacity from 30 million tonnes to 81 million tonnes involving an investment of Rs 7,705 crore, both own and private. The ports own investment in the near term is expected to be around Rs 1,700 crore and would be met through internal accruals, he said.

Meanwhile, work on the Rs 1,270-crore container terminal, coming up through an agreement with Adani Ennore Container Terminal Pvt Ltd with a handling capacity of 1.4 million TEUs, is in progress and the operations are expected to start by March, 2016, much before the schedule date, which falls in 2017, according to him. 

A multi-cargo terminal in concession agreement with Chettinad International Bulk Terminal Pvt Ltd with a project cost of Rs 151 crore is expected to start civil works this July. The third coal berth for Tangedco with a capacity of 9 mtpa for Rs 269.1 crore, including associated dredging, is in the process of pre-project activities while the fourth coal berth for it is expected to be commissioned by June 2017, he said. The tender process for the fourth coal berth is expected to complete by May. For the LNG terminal, the joint venture partner Indian Oil Corporation Ltd was in the process of finalising the EPC contractors for different packages.

The port's vessel traffic management system, first-of-its-kind in India, is expected to be launched by mid-April. It is developing additional parking facility of 5,000 cars for the automobile sector with contract value of Rs 14.88 crore. 

The port, which handles passenger cars and other automobiles from manufacturers such as Nissan, Toyota, Ford, Honda, Daimler, Ashok Leyland, handled 215,000 cars during 2014-15, an increase of 6.61 per cent compared with the previous year. This is highest among all major ports. It received 779 vessels against 689 in the previous year.

It has earmarked around Rs 200 crore for the development of infrastructure projects this fiscal year. The port is also actively participating in the efforts of the governments to build the Chennai-Bengaluru Industrial Corridor and development of Ponneri, one of the proposed smart cities, said Sanjay Kumar, director (operations), KPL.