Visakhapatnam Port Authority secures 4th rank among major ports

Visakhapatnam: Visakhapatnam Port Authority (VPA) secured fourth rank among major ports and second rank in the East Coast in terms of cargo handling volume, said its chairman K Rama Mohana Rao. Addressing the media here on Friday, the Chairman said the port handled 73.73 million tonnes for the financial year 2022-23 as against 69.03 MT registered in the corresponding period of previous year.

Explaining further, Rama Mohana Rao mentioned that leasing 17 acres of land for 30 years that were idle for eight years at Saligramapuram was generating additional revenue of Rs 125 crore and generating 10,000 jobs. To mitigate pollution from cargo storage, the Chairman said the VPA has taken several measures to prevent it. As part of it, construction of covered storage sheds works was awarded to store 15 lakh tonnes of cargo with an investment of Rs 120 crore, he informed.

As part of making the port as landlord model, three PPP projects were awarded with an investment of Rs 655 crore and another two projects are in advanced stage of awarding, Rama Mohana Rao mentioned. He said that through EQ1 and 6 berths, the port has been able to generate an additional income of Rs 119 crore. Similarly, Rs 288 crore income was generated by giving three berths for mechanisation.

The Chairman opined that by allocating works in PPP method, the technology would be imported, income would be increased and the cost will be reduced for the company. Apart from growth in various aspects, the VPA also registered decline in cargo handling due to various reasons, the port Chairman mentioned.  Drop in thermal coal was registered -57 per cent due to non-renewal of MoU by TANGEDCO.  In the iron ore pellets handling, the Chairman said - 0.2 per cent decline was witnessed due to drop in price at international market.