Kamarajar Port set to become a Mega Port with major upgrades

CHENNAI : Kamarajar Port (KPL), about 24 km north of Chennai, has completed 25 years since it was incorporated as Ennore Port in Oct 1999. It has developed a cargo handling capacity of around 57.5 million tonnes per annum (MTPA) over the past 25 years and is targeting increase in capacity to 254.5 MTPA in the next 25 years (by 2047).

In an interview Mr. Sunil Paliwal, Chairman, KPL, speaks about the plans to transform the 12th major port in India into a mega port. KPL has taken up several projects to boost infrastructure, enhance capacity and improve logistics and trade connectivity. These include southern port access road, doubling of the southern rail connectivity and construction of automobile export/import terminal-II. Several more facilities are in the pipeline. For instance, Indian Oil Corporation’s captive jetty with a capacity of three MTPA at an investment of 9.21 billion would be ready by end of this month. Another rail link to the port from the northern side of Minjur railway station will be established. Primarily, KPL is an energy port, wherein 65%-70% of the cargo comprises petroleum oil and lubricants, LPG, LNG and coal. Container cargo has a share of 25%. The rest is contributed by gypsum, barytes and limestone under the bulk cargo category, besides automobiles. In the past 6-8 months, we are targeting ‘Project Cargo’. Components are being brought to our port and assembled in a dedicated space earmarked for the purpose. It is mainly for over-sized cargo such as big mining trucks that cannot be directly brought to the port by road. In 2023-2024, the port handled 6,71,000 TEUs (twenty-foot equivalent units) of container cargo compared to 5,50,151 TEUs the previous year, he said.

With increasing demand for containerised cargo in India and the need for efficient port infrastructure, KPL is poised to experience growth in container cargo volumes. The port has nine operational terminals with 57.5 MTPA capacity, of which 34 MTPA is energy cargo and 15.4 MTPA is container cargo. To align with the goals of Maritime India Vision 2030 and Maritime Amrit Kaal Vision 2047, KPL aims to reach a cargo handling capacity of 254.5 MTPA by 2047 with 27 berths. Of this, energy cargo handling capacity will be 89 MTPA, container cargo capacity will be 123.5 MTPA and other cargo including bulk and roll-on/roll-off (RO-RO) will be 42 MTPA. These developments will transform KPL into a ‘mega port’, and the leading eastern gateway port of India, Mr. Paliwal emphasised.