Puttur to Attipattu via Uthukottai railway route
According
to Ms Viswanathan, good rail connectivity can boost a port's business potential
tremendously. JNPT is a good example of this as it is able to attract to cargo
from across the country by rail.
On the
contrary, while Ennore port is ready in other aspects, the rail connectivity is
not yet in place. There should be well-planned rail links when a port is
designed, as was the case at Karaikal, she said.
With the
cargo volume of coal and iron ore to improve substantially in the months to
come, rail connectivity will be critical to the port's success.
The
Railways has finalised the year's plans for Ennore port, including enhanced
connectivity to the port from Athipattu station. Southern Railway has also got
sanction for laying a new line between Puttur and Athipattu, which will serve
to decongest the highly saturated Tiruvallur-Chennai sector and provide a
shorter route for iron-ore traffic to Ennore port.
The cost
of this 88-km line has been estimated at nearly Rs 450 crore.
In
addition, Ennore port will have rail sidings for iron ore, coal and containers.
Seven other companies, including Zuari Cements, India Cements, Adani Agro,
Indian Oil Corporation, HPCL, Indian Oil Petronas and private container firms
such as Box Tram, Gateway Rail Freight and Sical have approached the Railways
for creating sidings, according to sources in Southern Railway.
Ms
Viswanathan said it takes 2-3 years for getting permission and commissioning of
rail projects, while it took just nine months at the Karaikal port.
The new
line from Puttur to Attipattu is a must for movement of large volumes of cargo
from and to Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka.
Rail
facilities at any greenfield port project should be planned ahead of the port
facilities, and, if necessary, the railway project could be implemented through
public-private participation, in a time-bound manner, Ms Viswanathan said.
Disjointed
growth
Rail,
road, air and sea are crucial components of cargo movement. “But it is
unfortunate that there is disjointed growth in all these spheres with little
coordination among most of the agencies concerned.
As a
result, while there has been progress in some areas of connectivity, there is
no comprehensive or complete networking,” said Mr G. Raghu Shankar, Chairman,
SICCI Shipping Committee, at the Shipping Conclave.
“Ennore
has abundant virgin land to create a world-class facility. But even this port
has not grown the way it ought to have grown in its years of existence. There
is a lack of planning at the early stage for proper connectivity using all
modes of transport,” he said.
“Ennore
Port cannot today boast of great connectivity and the growth seen is driven by
the market rather than marketed by the port. Car manufacturers moving to or
intending to move to Ennore Port is more because of the bottlenecks in Chennai
Port and the dirty nature of cargo handled by the latter than the facilities
offered by Ennore Port,” he said.
Ennore Port moots rail
loop to help iron ore exporters
Our Bureau
CHENNAI, April 22
ENNORE Port Ltd has
suggested to the Railway Ministry to form a new railway loop line bypassing the
crowded Tiruvallur-Chennai section to help iron ore exporters.
The new line, likely to
be about 80-km-long, will branch off at Puttur and then reach Athipattu near
the port, according to Mr M. Raman, Chairman and Managing Director of EPL.
He told a press
conference here on Tuesday that if the Railway Ministry could not commit the
funds required for this line, then a special purpose vehicle could be formed by
the port, the Railways and iron ore exporters, which could take up the project.
Iron ore from the Bellary-Hospet region in Karnataka would be exported through
the port.
The concept was still in
the preliminary stages and the port hoped that an inter-ministerial meeting
could be convened to push the idea forward.
This new loop line was
essential if exporting iron ore through the Ennore Port was to be economically
viable for the exporters. Simultaneously, the port hoped to award the contract
for building an iron ore berth capable of handling 10-12 million tonnes per
annum by July. The port also hoped to begin dredging work to increase the draft
to 18 m so that 200,000 tonne vessels could be handled, he said.
The investment in the
new railway line would be about Rs 160-170 crore and the special purpose
vehicle could take it up with a debt equity ratio of 2:1.
The Railways had done
surveys on the proposed line and come up with two alignments. The new line
would reduce the distance by nearly 35 km and offer freight advantage to the
iron ore exporters.
Mr Raman said Ennore
Port would award the contract on a BOT basis for another coal terminal and a
marine liquid cargo terminal by June-July. All the three berths — coal, marine
liquid cargo and iron ore — were expected to be ready by June-July 2005. The
dredging to increase the draft to 18 m would cost about Rs 195 crore and Ennore
Port planned to ask the Government of India for a grant for this purpose.
He said EPL was in the
process of swapping its high cost debt - borrowed at about 14 per cent interest
from the Government of India and the Chennai Port Trust - with low cost funds.
The Chennai Port Trust had agreed to substitute its earlier loan carrying an
interest of 14 per cent per annum to 10.5 per cent now. Likewise, the Kandla
Port Trust had agreed to lend to EPL at 9.75 per cent to enable Ennore Port to
prepay some Government of India loan. A few banks and financial institutions
had also evinced interest in swapping the high cost loans. The port hoped to
bring down its average interest to 9 - 11 per cent, which would result in an
annual saving of Rs 20 crore.
Mr Raman said Reliance
Industries would start handling petroleum products at the Ennore Port by July
and Bannari Amman Sugars molasses for exports next month. Reliance had acquired
land near the port and set up tankage facilities. It was expected to handle
about two lakh tonnes of petroleum products this year and five lakh tonnes next
year.
During 2002-03, the
first full year of operations, the Ennore Port handled 154 vessels and 8.485
million tonnes of coal. During June 2001 to March 2002, the port handled 71
vessels and 3.401 million tonnes of coal. The port handles coal exclusively for
the Tamil Nadu Electricity Board. Its total income for 2002-03 was Rs 77.68
crore, and after accounting for an interest of Rs 55.66 crore and a
depreciation of Rs 16.02 crore, the port recorded a net loss of Rs 2.78 crore.
Next year, with the debt swap and higher traffic, the port was confident of
recording a profit.
The port expected to
handle about 10 million tonnes of cargo this year and this figure was expected
to go up to 40 million tonnes by 2006-07.
Chennai-Aththipattu-Puttur
- 88 Km - 447 Crs.
The Railways has finalised
the year's plans for Ennore port, including enhanced connectivity to the port
from Athipattu station. Southern Railway has also got
sanction for laying a new line between Puttur and Athipattu, which will serve to
decongest the highly saturated Tiruvallur-Chennai sector and provide a shorter
route for iron-ore traffic to Ennore port.
The cost of this 88-km line has been estimated at nearly Rs 450 crore.
In addition, Ennore port will have rail sidings for iron ore, coal and
containers. Seven other companies, including Zuari Cements, India Cements, Adani Agro, Indian Oil Corporation, HPCL, Indian Oil Petronas and private container firms such as Box Tram, Gateway Rail Freight and Sical have approached the Railways for creating sidings, according to sources in Southern Railway.
Ms Viswanathan said it takes 2-3 years for getting permission and commissioning of rail projects, while it took just nine months at the Karaikal port.
The new line from Puttur to Attipattu is a must for movement of large volumes of cargo from and to Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka.
Rail facilities at any greenfield port project should be planned ahead of the port facilities, and, if necessary, the railway project could be implemented through public-private participation, in a time-bound manner, Ms Viswanathan said.
sanction for laying a new line between Puttur and Athipattu, which will serve to
decongest the highly saturated Tiruvallur-Chennai sector and provide a shorter
route for iron-ore traffic to Ennore port.
The cost of this 88-km line has been estimated at nearly Rs 450 crore.
In addition, Ennore port will have rail sidings for iron ore, coal and
containers. Seven other companies, including Zuari Cements, India Cements, Adani Agro, Indian Oil Corporation, HPCL, Indian Oil Petronas and private container firms such as Box Tram, Gateway Rail Freight and Sical have approached the Railways for creating sidings, according to sources in Southern Railway.
Ms Viswanathan said it takes 2-3 years for getting permission and commissioning of rail projects, while it took just nine months at the Karaikal port.
The new line from Puttur to Attipattu is a must for movement of large volumes of cargo from and to Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka.
Rail facilities at any greenfield port project should be planned ahead of the port facilities, and, if necessary, the railway project could be implemented through public-private participation, in a time-bound manner, Ms Viswanathan said.
4.88 With a view to decongest freight movement in
the CMA, S.Rly. has drawn up a
plan to construct
a new railway
line between Athipattu
and Puttur/ Thiruvallur to
bypass northeast and south-west rail corridors.