The Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust (JNPT) is expecting to get government approvals for its US$2.52 million channel deepening project in two months.
However, it would take another 24-30 months to complete the dredging process, which will enable the port to play host to bigger vessels.
"We have submitted the proposal for deepening of the channel to the government and are expecting to get approval in the next 60 days. The dredging work will commence immediately after getting the approval, while the deepening will be completed in the next one to one-and-a-half years," a company official said.
The present depth of the shipping channel is around 11.5m during low tides and 12.5m during high tides. According to the proposal submitted to the government, the JNPT intends to deepen the channel by another two metres.
Once the depth of the channel is increased, it will help in bringing in bigger vessels _ of around 6,000 TEU capacity _ to the port.
In 2007, the port handled 3.6 million TEUs and it was expecting to increase the capacity to four million TEUs this year. At present the JNPT handles over 60 per cent of the country's container traffic. However, after the dredging, the port would be able to handle over five million TEUs per year, the port officials said.
Further in the second phase, the channel would be dredged up to 16m, under a project costing $3 million. However, this is still under the planning stage.
The JNPT had sought approvals for deepening and widening the channel earlier in 2004. In 2005, it had appointed New Delhi-based management and environmental consultant Scott Wilson as the project management consultant (PMC).
While the project had earlier received Public Investment Board (PIB) clearance, an approval from the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) was still awaited.
Throughput at major ports in India grew 12 percent in the April-to-January period, according to figures released by the Indian Ports Association.
The country’s 12 major ports, six each on the west and east coasts, handled 424 million metric tonnes of cargo during the period, up from 379 million metric tonnes in the same period a year earlier.
Kandla emerged as the largest cargo hub with throughput of 53.38 million metric tonnes.
Total volume at the Port of Jawaharlal Nehru, the country’s busiest container hub, increased to 45.32 million metric tonnes, up 24 percent from 36.56 million metric tonnes.
Container traffic at Nehru surged to a record 3.33 million TEUs, up 24 percent from a year ago, while volume in January totalled 357,976 TEUs. Based on current growth trends, traffic is expected to reach four million TEUs in fiscal 2007-08, from 3.3 million in 2006-07, against the target of 3.5 million TEUs set by the Ministry of Shipping.
In fiscal 2006-07, major ports handled 5.44 million TEUs, compared with 4.6 million TEUs the previous year.