The Vizhinjam port, which is gearing up for commissioning next month, will cater to around 120 million consumers in five cities — Chennai, Coimbatore, Bengaluru, Tirunelveli, and Thoothukudi — that are 18-24 hours by road or rail, and 220 million consumers in three cities — Hyderabad, Vizag and Goa — that are 48 hours by rail or road when operations become full-fledged and rail connectivity is in place.
This has been assessed as the scope of the port, and steps are being considered to carry out allied developments near the port to meet the requirement without hampering the environment.
Sources said that the demand for the port is huge among the shipping companies because it is easier for them to unload transhipment cargo at Vizhinjam and proceed to their next port without detour.
There is also a huge demand from businesses in other parts of the country to move goods through the new port for transhipment. It is assessed that the cost will be less if goods are moved via Vizhinjam.
The goods headed to these cities that are only 48 hours away by road and rail will pass through the new port.
“The potential is huge, and the logistics park being planned is also aimed to cater to these customers from these cities,” said an official.
In the initial phase, till the road and rail link are ready, the port will be handling ship-to-ship traffic.
The port, operated by Adani Ports, has secured 23 cantilever rail-mounted gantry cranes used to move cargo and boost the capacity of the port, and eight giant rail-mounted quay cranes to load and unload containers from ships.
“These are being used during the trial phase. We have received all the cranes for the first phase operation of the port,” said a port official.
The port has received one pilot-cum-survey vessel, buoys with lanterns as navigational aid, and four tugs, of which three have 70 tonnes capacity.