M'lore port to build 4 berths for Rs 350cr

New Mangalore Port Trust (NMPT) has proposed to build four berths to cater to the growing traffic in oil, coal and general cargo at a combined investment of about Rs 350 crore.

Of this, two berths will be for the captive use of Nagarjuna Power Company and Suzlon which are building thermal and wind energy projects respectively near Mangalore and two berths for handling multi-purpose cargo and including container traffic.

According to NMPT Chairman P Tamilvanan, while both companies will build one berth each for their use, the remaining two berths will be built by the port trust. The feasibility study for the captive berth of Nagarjuna Power Company has been completed and the proposal is before the Union ministry of surface transport (MOST) for approval.

Talking to Business Standard, Tamilvanan said each of the four berths will require an investment of Rs 50 crore at least. The construction will take about 18 months. The basic study has been done by Consultancy Engineering Services (CES). "We are also planning to get the dredging done before constructing these berths," he said.

Nagarjuna Power Company has proposed to build their berth at an investment of Rs 200 crore and it will have an annual capacity of 3 million tonnes.

The company proposes to shift the coal through a conveyor belt to their railway yard inside the port and transport through the railway to their power project site at Nandikur from the port.

For the present fiscal, the NMPT has planned a capital expenditure of Rs 36 crore for various development programmes.

"The port is growing and a lot of cargo is coming to us. We want to expand the facility so that the cargo can be handled without any delay and we don't want any vessel to wait. We are presently conducting a feasibility study which will take another three months, after which we will approach the government for an approval to construct the remaining two berths," he said.

The port is also constructing a cruise terminal at a cost of Rs 2.05 crore which will be ready next month. The port handled 18 cruise vessels during last fiscal.

During 2006-07, NMPT handled 32.04 million tonnes of cargo and reported an income of Rs 280 crore. This year it has set a cargo handling target of 34 million tonnes.