Essar Port to complete Rs 830 crore expansion at Vizag terminal

Ahead of the commissioning of a new 8,000-tonne per hour ship loader, the Essar Group run Vizag Port is shutting its operations for seven days. The commissioning of the ship loader is part of the port's Rs 830 -crore modernization and expansion project,the port said.

This expansion will upgrade and expand the harbour's iron ore handling capacity from 12.5 million tonne to 23 mt per annum.

During the shut from December 13 to December 19, other cargo handling equipment, including a new reclaimer and a mechanical conveyor system, will also be commissioned.


The new ship loader can handle 120,000 tonne per day cargo which will translate to shorter turnaround time and competitive freight costs for exporters on the East Coast.

CH Satyanand, the chief executive of the port said the shutdown is being undertaken without any disruption to exporters' shipments. The port is replacing a 41-year-old ship-loader with a new one.

Essar Vizag Terminals began the expansion project in May 2015 on a design-build-finance-operate-Transfer basis for 30 years. Since then, it has ramped up iron ore loading capacity from 25,000 tonne per day to 70,000.