The Ispat Industries-owned Geetapuram Port, which recently got the go-ahead from Maharashtra to handle third-party cargo, has announced a Rs 2,000-crore expansion plan to increase its cargo handling capacity to nearly sevenfold over the next two years.
The expansion project seeks to raise the annual cargo handling capacity of the Geetapuram Port, which is off the Jawaharlal Nehru Port, from the present 6 million tonne to 40 million tonne over the next two years, Geetapuram Port Services Director and Chief Operating Officer Rajeev Singh Gautam said.
"The present continuous quay length of 400 meters is being enhanced to 1,700 meters at a cost of nearly Rs 2,000 crore. Then it will be able to accommodate 15 vessels simultaneously. We will add eight more cranes to to the existing four cranes," Gautam told PTI here today. The port will carry out extensive dredging of the channel and the berth area to accommodate the Panamax size ships, Gautam added.
Geetapuram, which is a bulk cargo port currently, will be developed in to a container port. According to him, this development will bring tremendous opportunities due to its proximity to the nation's largest container port, Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust (JNPT), which is just three hours sailing from Geetapuram. "Due to this proximity, we can serve as a complimentary facility to the JNPT," he said.
In 1995, Geetapuram Port was developed as a captive port by Ispat, after takin it on lease from the state for importing raw materials for the company's hot-rolled coils plant at Dolvi in Maharashtra which had a 3-million tonne capacity per annum. Recently the state had also allowed Ispat to handle third-party cargo at the port.
