PUDUCHERRY: Chennai port trust chairman P Raveendran and Puducherry chief secretary Manoj Parida signed the memorandum of understanding (MoU) on Wedensday in the presence of Union minister for road transport, highways and shipping Nitin Gadkari, Puducherry chief minister V Narayanasamy, Malladi Krishna Rao, M Kandasamy and the speaker of the legislative assembly V Vaithilingam in New Delhi.
Chennai port trust has come forward to develop Puducherry port as its satellite port in an effort to reduce traffic at the Chennai port which has been witnessing heavy traffic in recent times.
Puducherry port will handle four lakh tonne of cargo in the first year and subsequently will handle 10 lakh tonne of cargo every year. The operators at Chennai port pointed out that receiving and moving cargo have become time-consuming and difficult in the recent times and argued that the freight in small barges can be moved inland from Puducherry quickly when compared to Chennai. The cargo will be transported from Puducherry port through trains and through containers by roads. The port will handle cargo like sugar, timber, cement and steel.
Chennai port trust has come forward to provide a financial assistance of Rs 50 crore to connect Puducherry port with the railway station for quick movement of cargo following an appeal from Narayanasamy. The trust also come forward to bear the cost of dredging expenses for the first year while Puducherry government will undertake dredging from the second year. The cargo quay of the new port is 150m long and 25m wide with 2.5m draft alongside, 2.5m draft in channel and 2m draft at the mouth.
