VOC Port signs concession pact for 2 big projects

Source:http://www.sagarsandesh.com/news/voc-port-signs-concession-pact-for-2-big-projects/

It was a Red-Letter Day in the history of Tuticorin’s pearl -V.O. Chidambaranar Port – on April 17, when the fast-growing multi-cargo facility signed the concession agreement with a private player for development of North Cargo Berth- IV and construction of Shallow Draught Berth for handling cement and related raw material.
The concession agreement was signed by Mr. S. Natarajan, Chairman, V.O. Chidambaranar Port Trust, and Mr. Prasanna Kumar Palla, Senior Deputy Vice- President, M/s. Transstroy – OJSC Consortium, Hyderabad, at the port premises.

According to official sources, the port has accepted the highest gross revenue share of 30 per cent offered by M/s. Transstroy – OJSC Consortium, Hyderabad, for the project development of North Cargo Berth – IV and 22 per cent for the project construction of Shallow Draught Berth for handling cement and related raw material offered by the firm.
It may be recalled here that the Shipping Ministry under the leadership of Union Minister of Shipping G. K. Vasan has ensured the implementation of various Public Private Partnership (PPP) projects in various ports to augment the port capacities to 3 billion as envisaged in the Maritime Agenda 2020.
The projects for which the concession agreements had been signed at VOC Port would be executed through PPP mode on DBFOT basis, with a concession period of 30 years.
The estimated project cost for the development of North Cargo Berth-IV is Rs. 355 crores and the estimated cost for the project construction of Shallow Draught Berth for handling cement and related raw materials is Rs. 84.08 crores and the capacity addition would be 9.15 Million Tonnes and 2.67 Million Tonnes per annum respectively.
The scheduled date of completion for both the projects is 24 months from the date of Award of Concession.
With these developments, VOC Port is all set to increase the capacity of the port from 33.34 Million Tonnes to 85.73 Million Tonnes by implementing various capacity augmentation projects in the inner harbour to cater to the bulk cargo requirements of the hinterland industries.