Much awaited outer terminal will save logistics cost: Stakeholders
Almost 60 to 70 per cent of containerized cargo from India is transshipped through Colombo port and mostly our EXIM community could save money on foreign exchange.
View of the existing terminal at VO Chidambaranar Port
MADURAI: The much-awaited outer harbour container terminal in the seaport city of Thoothukudi will go on to compete with the Colombo port in Sri Lanka, feel stakeholders.
Many industry stakeholders and port users are looking forward to this project, for which the foundation stone was laid on February 28. The port users have been longing for over 20 years to make the outer harbor development a reality. Once the new facility with a 16m draft is built, the Thoothukudi seaport would record a substantial growth of transshipment volume with mainline vessels as the stakeholders would not prefer Colombo port.
More importantly, the outer harbour terminal would become a regular port of call for mother vessels carrying millions of dollars’ worth of cargo, R Edwin Samuel, vice president, Association for Tuticorin Hub Port Development (ATHPD), said on Sunday.
Adding factors advantageous to the EXIM fraternity, he said the Colombo-bound cargo by smaller feeder vessels would save transit time and cargo handling cost. Any shipper or importer had to incur an additional expenditure of US$ 150 on transshipment costs for Colombo-bound cargo.
Almost 60 to 70 per cent of containerized cargo from India is transshipped through Colombo port and mostly our EXIM community could save money on foreign exchange, he told DT Next.
JP Joe Villavarayar, secretary, ATHPD, said the upcoming facility would generate employment opportunities in southern region of Tamil Nadu.
“With the upcoming facility, the stakeholders need not go in search of mother vessels docked in Chennai, Cochin, or Haldia,” A Mohan, a port user said.
According to Karthikeya Prabu, assistant secretary, Tuticorin Stevedore Association, the upcoming facility, for which port users were convened recently by the port authorities in Thoothukudi, would spur industrial growth in the southern region. A few big players expressed their interest in taking up the outer harbour project.
Michael Motha, former chairman of CII, Thoothukudi said industries in Chennai, Hosur, and Bengaluru have seen saturation and now is the time to create outer harbor development, and with the emerging Vietnam electric vehicle manufacturing unit in Thoothukudi, it could attract more industrial investments.
