Chennai Port plans to build multi-modal rail terminal at Jolarpettai
CHENNAI: Chennai Port plans to set up a multi-modal rail terminal at Jolarpettai and has asked a consultant to conduct a feasibility study. The consultant is likely to submit its report in the next couple of months, Chennai Port Trust Chairman P Raveendran said. Talking to Express, Raveendran, who took over also as Chairman of Kamarajar Port from Wednesday, said that Ernst and Young has started the study and the terminal is likely to come up on railway land.
In the next couple of months, the consultant will submit the report on the location of the land to set up a rail terminal. It is learnt that the facility will require 55 acres. The idea is to transfer port cargo to the terminal and from there it will be distributed. Plans are also afoot to increase the rail share of the port, he said.
Chennai Port currently handles nearly 50,000 twenty-foot-equivalent units by truck to and from Bengaluru and it hopes that the Jolarpettai facility will convert those loads to rail.
The terminal will be handling containers from Western Tamil Nadu, Bengaluru, Krishnagiri, Chittoor, he said. Interestingly, Chennai Port’s focus towards rail has been gaining momentum following formation of a special-purpose company — Indian Port Rail Corporation — based on equity participation from major port authorities and Indian Railways to handle such projects.
Raveendran said though the initiative is by Chennai Port, it will be part of Chennai-Bengaluru Industrial corridor proposed by Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA). As per master-plan, TN will have to invest $22,965 million (USD) developing the corridor which will span across seven districts, covering nearly 30,000 sq km.