Q . How and why did you select the site where the port is located ?
The success of any port project depends largely on the location of the port , its connectivity to the hinterland and the volume of cargo being generated in the hinterland . Customer acquisition by a new port is broadly based on this .
Krishnapatnam port is situated on the East Coast of India , 180 kilometres north of Chennai city , in Nellore district of Andhra Pradesh . The strategic location of the Port and its vast hinterland makes it a natural choice for cargo originating from and destined for southern and central parts of India . The dynamics of the port and its infrastructure are customised to the needs of the industry . Providing a multimodal connectivity by road , rail and air , Krishnapatnam Port , in sync with its vision , offers a truly global experience to its customers and partners providing superior connectivity and ensuring hassle-free movement of goods .
The group , Navayuga Engineering , has built over 40 % of the berths of the Indian ports . Having such a profound expertise in marine construction and development in India , we have designed and developed a world-class masterplan for Krishnapatnam Port with a far-sighted plan . We have considered the problems of customers and shipping lines in the short-term and the infrastructure challenges in the long-term . When most ports in India face challenges of last-mile connectivity , superior connectivity at the port ensures hassle-free movement of goods .
Q . Krishnapatnam Port is said to be one of the most advanced ports in India , can you share the salient features .
Krishnapatnam is the fi rst port in the Indian maritime history to achieve optimum handling capacity of cargo from a single berth as against the industry average . As per the potential of our masterplan , we can build 42 berths to meet the future cargo capacity . Our high productivity is possible by using the state-of-the-art equipment which we understand can be scalable in the next decade to 10 MT per berth . Similar is the scenario in the container terminal . The 5 super post-Panamax cranes have a capacity of 50 moves / hour .
Krishnapatnam has a dedicated fourlane road connecting to National Highway-5 which is capable of handling 8,000 trucks per day and a 23-km double line rail with an on-dock rail adjacent to the container yard which provides rail connectivity between the port and the Chennai-Kolkata national rail network .
The support infrastructure also includes a land corridor in between the road and rail which can be used for upgrading the current four-lane road to six or eight lanes in the future . This gives the port unparalleled scope for scalability in sync with its core philosophy of creating and providing worldclass infrastructure , ahead of the demand . The road and rail connectivity provide seamless movement of cargo from the port to the hinterland of southern Andhra Pradesh , Telangana , Eastern Karnataka , Tamil Nadu and Eastern Maharashtra .
The port also provides fastest turnaround time for all types of vessels which is made possible by its 04 unloaders and 13 shore cranes with a discharge capacity of 1750MT for unloader and 1000 MT respectively for shore cranes per hour per machine . Its integrated real-time control of cargo handling through Automatic Vehicle Location System ( AVLS ) and Enterprise Port Management System ( EPMS ) enables it to handle all types of cargo apart from coal , making the port a class apart on the Indian east coast .
Krishnapatnam today commands more than 80 % market share of the container transhipment trade to and from South India . With deepened harbour up to 18.5 metres we are capable of handling the largest Cape size and Panamax vessels enabling cargo handling to be executed speedily besides offering signifi cant benefi ts in ocean freight .
In terms of ‘ ease of doing business ’ too Krishnapatnam Port is the fi rst and the only port to implement a single-window system for business facilitation , to enable customers submit all documents at a single location or approach a single authority for cargo clearance . We have created the Trade and Transport Terminal to provide working space for multiple port users and help them avoid the inconvenience of going through multiple interfaces . By operating services like warehousing , security , railways and dredging besides owning sophisticated harbour equipment , advanced terminal operating systems , and industry-best crane productivity rates , we have added effi ciencies to the entire port operations .
Q . What are the types of cargo handled at the port ?
Coal , Iron ore and Granite dominate the cargo portfolio handled at Krishnapatnam Port . New cargoes such as sand , steel products and agri-commodities have further added to the growth of our shipments .
A major portion of the coal , which makes up nearly 70 % of our cargo volumes , goes to four power plants in the primary hinterland . We are promoting port-based industries like thermal plants and edible oil refi neries on the huge land bank available near the port .
With the advantage of a strategic location and world-class infrastructure we have been able to offer advantages which the other age-old ports in India have not been able to do for so many years . This in turn has helped us specialise and position ourselves as the coal hub and edible oil hub of the country , besides being a critical gateway for solar imports .
The other cargoes handled include cement , furniture , solar , textile , auto & auto components , electricals & electronics , cashew , seafood-aqua , fertilizer , cotton , chilly , tobacco , rice , minerals and agri-cargo like maize and rice .
Q . How do you see the future for the port ?
By building infrastructure around the needs of the customer and effi cient handling of cargo , Krishnapatnam Port stands as the Port of Promise today . We would like to successfully position ourselves and show that doing business with Krishnapatnam Port or utilising the services of our container terminal helps in saving costs and time .
We have also acquired the land corridor between the road and rail line along the 25-km stretch connecting the port-highway to increase the road to 16-lane and rail to 6 tracks for handling 250 million tonnes of cargo in future . Innovative port community system and technologies such as RFID for security , AVTS for vehicle movement and hi-tech EPMR system are all in place .
Krishnapatnam ’ s strategic location and facilities that offer cost and transit time advantage makes it the best bet for importers and exporters in the region . Thanks to the upcoming CBIC ( Chennai- Bangalore Industrial Corridor ) and VCIC ( Vizag-Chennai Industrial Corridor ) corridors we expect to see manifold industrial growth which will present huge opportunities for us .
We are also planning a port-based industrial smart city in two phases in 14,000 acres of land in Nellore district for which we are waiting for State and Central government participation . Projects such as auto ancillary , chemical , cold storage , container freight station , food processing , heavy machinery , IT / ITES , leather , pharmaceuticals , refi neries , warehousing ,
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