Mansukh Mandaviya inaugurates various projects at VOC Port August 27 , 2019

TUTICORIN: An Export-Import Industrial Park, which can provide employment to a few thousand people, will come up on 702 acres of land close to the VOC Port, Union Minister of State for Shipping Mansukh L. Mandaviya said recently.

The Union Minister was inaugurating new projects completed with an outlay of Rs. 193 crore and laying the foundation stone for several new projects to be taken up with an outlay of Rs. 13.87 crore, here.

Mr. Mandaviya said the proposed Export-Import Industrial Park would be established on 702 acres of land close to the harbour  employees’ quarters. It would house garment manufacturing units, automobile components manufacturing and oil refinery units and the “master plan” for the project had been prepared.

Besides generating employment to a few thousand people, the Export-Import Industrial Park would ensure increased cargo handling at the VOC Port, he said.

Steps had been taken to deepen and widen the entry point of VOC Port to receive bigger vessels with more number of containers, which were now being shipped from Colombo International Container Transhipment Terminal that handles 2.50 million containers a year. Once the deepening and widening works were completed, the bigger “mother vessels” could take the containers directly from VOC Port to international destinations, the Minister said.

Mr. Mandaviya boarded a tugboat for inspecting the ongoing development works off the VOC Port.

He inaugurated a rail track laid between Hare Island and Marshalling Yard at the cost of Rs. 58.30 crore, coal jetty I upgraded on an outlay of Rs. 50.12 crore and North Cargo Berth established at the cost of Rs. 36.52 crore.

The Minister laid the foundation stone for widening entry point of the seaport from 153 metres to 230 metres at a cost of Rs. 13.11 crore and installation of 140 KW solar power panels at the cost of Rs. 76 lakh.

Chairman of VOC Port T.K. Ramachandran, Vice-Chairman N. Vaiyapuri, former Union Minister of State for Shipping Pon. Radhakrishnan, Traffic Manager Prabhakar and senior officials of the seaport were present.