Adani Group owned Dhamra Port has registered 55 per cent spike in its cargo traffic in this fiscal by the end of fiscal. A sharp rebound in iron ore traffic, especially the export bound shipments, in the April-January period helped the port to deliver a robust cargo volume of 15.7 MnT compared to 10.1 MnT it registered in the corresponding period of FY16.
Increasing volume of coking coal and limestone imports were also crucial to the port’s impressive cargo performance.
Iron ore staged a dramatic turnaround from the lowly 0.16 MnT to 4.42 MnT during the period under review. Coal traffic also expanded 13 per cent from 9.37 MnT to 10.58 MnT. Dhamra port, a deep draft port along the coast of northern Odisha, has two berths with a combined capacity to handle 25 MnT each year. Due to slide in iron ore exports over the past few years, the port barely managed to operate at 50-60 per cent of its rated capacity.
However, Dhamra port has an ambitious plan to ramp up cargo handling capacity to 300 mt per annum. The authorities of Dhamra Port Company Ltd (DPCL), a special purpose vehicle (SPV) that manages the port operations has sought permission from the Union ministry of environment, forest & climate change to expand capacity. DPCL is a fully owned subsidiary of Adani Ports & Special Economic Zone (APSEZ) which oversees ports and logistics operations for the Adani Group. The larger plan, here is to scale up the Dhamra port to bring it at par with APSEZ’s flagship port operations at Mundra. The port has been in commercial operations since May 2011.
Reaching a cargo volume of 300 MnT is a long-term vision and may take 2030 or beyond to realise. This master plan envisages 35 berths compared to 14 approved in the original plan.
The massive expansion needs significant land. Hence, DPCL authorities have decided to reclaim 2000 acres of land after obtaining approval. DPCL, meanwhile, has already received advance possession of 686 acres of land from the Odisha government to go ahead with its second phase expansion.
In the second phase, DPCL is raising cargo capacity to 100 mtpa to diversify to liquid cargo and containers. This phase expansion needs INR 10,000 crore. In this phase, the proposed LNG terminal costing INR 6,000 crore, is also expected to be commissioned. The port is gearing up to start construction activity on the LNG terminal proposed to be built at a cost of INR 6,000 crore. Apart from Adani Enterprises, Indian Oil and GAIL would have stakes in the project.
Recently, a pact was signed between these three entities. According to this pact, Indian Oil and GAIL would have 39 per cent and 11 per cent stake respectively in the project. The rest 50 per cent equity would be held by Adani Enterprises.
The proposed LNG terminal would have a re-gasification capacity of five MnT per annum. It would be the sixth LNG terminal on the east coast and feed Indian Oil’s refineries at Paradip, Haldia and Barauni apart from offering feedstock to some fertiliser units.
Leave a Reply