The Visakhapatnam Port Trust (VPT) plans to reach out to companies in Hyderabad, encourage them to use their facilities instead of those in Mumbai, and will offer them attractive concessions, Durgesh Kumar Dubey, Deputy Chairman VPT said.
Mr Dubey pointed out that the VPT is closer to Hyderabad than the Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust, and that the former remains the cheapest port in the country. The intention is to reach out to the pharmaceutical sector, as well as the coal sector. He said that Hyderabad has great potential and the expectation is to have 1 million tonnes of cargo from here.
The VPT, from April to November this year, has handled as much as 44.98 million tonnes of cargo and is ranked fourth among the major ports and second on the East Coast Ports in terms of volumes handled. In FY 2020-21, as much as 36.79 million tonnes was handled by port berths. The cargo handled during the same period by private operators was 22.05 million tonnes. The VPT, at the moment, has a capacity of 126 million tonnes.
Mr Dubey said the VPT gives a concession of 70% on vessel related charges on 250 transshipment containers. In terms of port dues and pilotage for container vessels with GRT more than 50,000 MT, a concession of 80% is given. He said the VPT, which handles all kinds of cargo, is touted as the second gateway to Nepal. The VPT’s iron ore berth is capable of handling 2 lakh DWT vessels with a draft up to 16.5 metres.
The VPT is connected to trust railways through the railway yards to the Chennai-Howrah main lines of East Coast Railway. It operates own railway system with a track length of about 186 km.
