L&T Ports, Kattupalli, a division of L&T Shipbuilding Ltd, has demonstrated its capability to handle exports of fully-built automobiles today when a Roll-On-Roll-Off vessel berthed and took on board trucks and earth moving equipment.
A line of Fuso model trucks, built by Daimler India were loaded into the vessel MV Gardenia Ace; also waiting to roll into the vessel were a row of Kobelco cranes.
When the Tamil Nadu Industry Secretary CV Sankar flagged off the first truck at the port about 35 km north of Chennai, it became the third major port in the vicinity of Chennai to handle automobile exports.
L&T Ports, a joint venture company between Larsen & Toubro Ltd and the state-run Tamil Nadu Industrial Development Corporation, has two berths with a total capacity container handling capacity of 1.20 million TEUs.
It has so far handled break bulk, project and containerised cargo. It has facility to park over 3,500 vehicles at a time for exports.
Handling car exports is a key ability as the hinterland is an automobile hub with leading multinationals such as Hyundai, Renault-Nissan, Daimler, Ashok Leyland having factories in Chennai’s suburbs.
About 60 km north near Tada in Andhra Pradesh, Kobelco, a construction and earth moving equipment manufacturer, has its factory in Sri City, which is a fast emerging hub of manufacturing sector including automobiles.
K Venkatesh, Director, L&T Shipbuilding, said the port is in discussions with leading OEMs for long term agreements to handle automobile exports.
L&T Ports is a clean facility as it does not handle coal or other dusty cargo. This is an added attractive feature compared with other ports that handle automobile exports. Officials said the port is also in discussions with leading lines such as K Line, Hoegh, NYK and Eucar.
L&T Ports has adequate space to expand its yards to handle 10,000 vehicles.
The Kamarajar Port at Ennore and Chennai Port also handle automobile exports. The third option also consolidates Tamil Nadu position as an automobile hub.
