A Concession Agreement has been signed on September 3, 2022 between V.O. Chidambaranar Port Authority (VOCPA), Tuticorin, and Tuticorin International Container Terminal Private Limited (TICTPL) for conversion of berth No.9 as a container terminal at V.O. Chidambaranar Port Authority.

The  Agreement was signed on behalf of V.O. Chidambaranar Port Authority, Tuticorin, by Shri T.K. Ramachandran, Chairman, and on behalf of  Tuticorin International Container Terminal Private Limited, by Shri Dhruv Kotak, Managing Director, JM Baxi Ports & Logistics Limited (JMBPL).

As per the Concession Agreement, the container handling facility will be developed by the Concessionaire at an estimated cost of Rs. 434.17 crores, with an estimated capacity addition of 6,00,000 TEUs per annum.

The project would be executed on DBFOT (Design, Built, Finance, Operate and Transfer) basis, with a construction period of 21 months and is slated to be completed by December, 2024.

Speaking on the occasion, Shri T.K. Ramachandran stated that the terminal with a length of 370 metres and draft of 14.20 metres would be able to cater to vessels upto 8000 TEUs, thereby, facilitating to attract more investments and pave way for the economic development of the region.

V.O. Chidambaranar Port Authority, presently, the second largest container handling port in Tamilnadu, has a container handling capacity of 1.17 million TEUs per annum. The Port had handled 7.6 lakh TEUs of containers during the last financial year 2021-22. The Compounded Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of the container traffic of the port over the last 5 years is 6% and the port is expected to handle 1.16 million TEUs by the year 2024-25 and 2 million TEUs by the year 2034-35.

This information was stated in a press release issued by V. O. Chidambaranar Port Authority.

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