Krishnapatnam Port eyes 100 mt cargo capacities by FY21

Krishnapatnam Port Company is looking at expanding its cargo handling capacity to 100 million tonnes (MT) by the end of this decade.

Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and Director Anil Yendluri said recently, “We are looking at touching 100 mt cargo capacity by FY21. We are also planning to have a capacity of up to 200 mt.”

He, however, declined to give any timeline to achieve the 200 MT capacities.

Yendluari added that “It is difficult to predict timelines (for 200 MT capacities) now. It depends on how much the ‘Make in India’ campaign will take it forward and how aggressive the economy is likely to grow in the next 10 years.”

Currently, the port has a capacity to handle 74 MT cargo per year. Yendluri did not disclose the investments the company will make for capacity expansion.

The port, situated in Nellore district of Andhra Pradesh, which handled 41 MT cargo in FY15, has seen some dip in cargo handling in the current fiscal due to floods in Tamil Nadu.

He said that “In the current fiscal, there will be a slight dip because we have lost three months during the Tamil Nadu floods and we may end up at 35-36 MT. But this is very healthy growth when you see slow growth of the economy.”

The company is also looking at a dip in revenue to INR 1,750 crore in FY16 from INR 1,820 crore last fiscal.

The port is being built in three phases, with the first phase commissioned in September 2012.

The second phase is underway now. So far, the company has invested around INR 8,000 crore for the project. Its debt-to-equity ratio stands at 70:30, with debt at around INR 5,000 crore.

Krishnapatnam Port eyes 100 mt cargo capacities by FY21

Source: http://transreporter.com/