OREANDA-NEWS. July 20, 2011. Essar Ports Ltd., part of the Essar Group, has recently commissioned the 12million metric tons per annum (MMTPA) expansion at its Vadinar terminal at a total cost of Rs 1,065crores. This additional capacity is in the form of a new jetty handling petroleum products, storage tanks and a road gantry. With the commissioning of this additional 12 MMTPA the total handling capacity of Vadinar Port has gone up to 58 MMTPA. This additional capacity is in line with the Essar Oil’s refinery expansion to 18 MMTPA as part of the phase one expansion and further to 20 MMTPA post an optimization project this is due for completion by September 2012.

Commissioning of this project is in line with the company’s expansion plans at Salaya, Paradip and Haizra, doubling the capacity to 158 MMTPA by 2013. The total capital expenditure planned by the company is Rs 9,300 crore, of which the company has already spent more than Rs 6,300 crore.

Commenting on the additional capacity Mr. Rajiv Agarwal, M.D. Essar Ports Ltd. said, “Essar Ports is in the forefront of delivering value to the existing clientele. The building of this additional capacity is in line with the future growth of the company. Essar Ports has committed to take the total port capacity to 158 MMTPA by 2013. The company expects to see revenue growth of over 35% every year for the next few years based on increased realization and incremental traffic.

Essar ports currently have two ports in operation and 3 under construction. The two ports in operation are at Hazira and Vadinar. The cargo handling capacity at Hazira is 30 MMTPA, which will be ramped to 50 MMTPA. At Vadinar the capacity has been ramped up to 58 MMTPA with this additional 12 MMTPA. Apart from this Essar port is developing a 16 MMTPA Iron Ore berth and 14 MMTPA Coal terminals at Paradip. Essar Ports is also developing a 20 MMTPA dry bulk terminal at Salaya taking the total port capacity to 158 MMTPA by 2013.