Enayam Port
The Union
Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi gave in-principle approval
for setting up a Major port at Enayam near Colachel in Tamil Nadu. In this
regard, a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) will be formed for development of Port
with initial equity investment from three Major Ports in Tamil Nadu- VO
Chidambaranar Port Trust, Chennai Port Trust and Kamarajar Port Limited.
India has 12
major ports at present – Kandla, Mumbai, JNPT, Marmugoa, New Mangalore, Cochin,
Chennai, Ennore, V. O. Chidambarnar, Visakhapatnam, Paradip and Kolkata
(including Haldia)
Highlights of the Project
The Enayam project will cost
around 27000 crore rupees and will be undertaken in three phases.
The cabinet cleared an
expenditure of 6575 crore rupees for phase one of the project.
The SPV will develop the
port infrastructure including dredging and reclamation, construction of
breakwater, ensuring connectivity links, etc.
Establishing this Major port
at Enayam will not only act as a major gateway container port for Indian cargo
but it will also become a trans-shipment hub for the global East-West trade
route.
It will also reduce the
logistics cost for exporters and importers in South India who currently depend
on trans-shipment in Colombo or other ports thus incurring additional port
handling charges.
Besides augmenting the country’s cargo handling
capacity, Enayam, a major transshipment port, would attract new industries to
the region and give a leg up to the special economic zones in Nanguneri and
Gangaikondan in Tirunelveli district. Exporters, especially from Tirupur, Erode
and Sivakasi, can set up their units closer to the port.
Enayam is a prestigious project that will capitalise
on the anticipated spurt in cargo movement by sea across the world. Sri Lanka,
which has its major transshipment port in Colombo, is in the process of
enhancing its container handling capacity through two new ports.
At present, 60 per cent of Colombo’s transshipment
volumes is from India and 60 per cent of this is from Tamil Nadu. Colombo port
accounts for one-fourth of India’s total transshipment.
Transshipment of goods is expected to grow by 10 per
cent in South East Asia in the next 15-20 years. Hence, India needs both Enayam
and Vizhinjam in Kerala.
It is estimated that 80 per cent of gateway transfer
for the Enayam port, which is located closer to the prime East-West trade
route, will come from Tamil Nadu. The area around Enayam, stretching from
Kurumbanai to Thengapattinam, has been chosen for the new port taking into
consideration low impact on property due to low population; ease of
construction and expansion; road and rail connectivity; and lower environmental
and social impact.
Enayam has a natural draught of 20 metres and is
closer to National Highway 47. Officials are confident of the success of Enayam
port as Tamil Nadu has more mandays than Kerala and there will not be any need
for containers to wait at inter-State check-posts. It will be an ideal
transshipment hub between the west and east coasts and will augment the revenue
of Thoothukudi, Chennai and Ennore ports. The proposed port has already earned
the support of the State government.
At present,
there are only a few ports in India that have sufficient draft and can match
global cargo handling efficiencies. Currently,
all of India's trans-shipment traffic gets handled in Colombo, Singapore and
other international ports. Indian port industry loses out up to 1500 Crore
rupees of revenues each year.
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