India: The Cabinet Committee on Infrastructure (CCI) has approved the development of a "mega container terminal" at Chennai Port under a Public Private Partnership (PPP).
The terminal will have a concession period of 30 years at an estimated cost of INR36.860 billion (US$332.5 million). The project is expected to boost exports and imports in the region with savings in freight and ship cost to the shippers, according to the Press Information Bureau of India.
Considering the steady growth in the container volumes at Chennai Port, the container throughput demand is expected to outstrip the available capacity of 2.0 million TEU per annum by 2017-18.
The capacity of the proposed terminal would be 4.0 million TEU per annum. In addition to handling the projected volume of container traffic, the terminal will also be able to handle ultra large container vessels, which are expected to dominate the container trade.
The port wants to compete with other international ports and attract deep drafted vessels to the Chennai Port thereby reducing the need for transhipment at the ports of Singapore and Colombo, Sri Lanka.
The construction of the project is expected to be completed within seven years from the date of award of concession.
