Chennai, Feb 28 (IANS) The central government is determined to develop Ennore Port in Tamil Nadu as the country’s “eastern gateway port”, Minister for Shipping, Road Transport and Highways T.R. Baalu said here Saturday.
Speaking at the foundation stone-laying ceremony for the Rs.14.07-billion (Rs.1,407 crore) iron ore terminal project at the port, the minister said: “The terminal will have a continuous quay length of 1,000 metres and will have an area of 5 lakh (500,000) square metres.”

“It will have an alongside depth of 16 metres and will accommodate vessels of 14,500 TEUs (twenty equivalent foot units),” he added.

The annual capacity will be 1.5-million TEUs and it will be able to simultaneously handle three mainline vessels.

“The government has given the approval for development of the terminal on February 26 on build-operate-transfer (BOT) basis,” Balu said.

The development, operation and maintenance of the terminal would be done by a concessionaire to be selected through a global competitive bidding process. The revenue share offered will be the criteria for the selection of the concessionaire.

The project is expected to ne operational within 36 months from the the date the concession is awarded.

Tamil Nadu Electricity Minister Arcot N. Veeraswamy laid the foundation stone.