Krishna Patnam port work progressing rapidly

Second phase works on Krishna Patnam port are progressing rapidly. New berths are being built at an estimated cost of Rs 4,000 crores. Nine berths had been built so far in the first phase by spending about Rs 3,000 crore. Another six berths will be built in the next one year. When all the 42 berths are completed, as planned, Krishna Patnam port would become the largest port in the Asian continent.

So far 930 ships anchored at Krishna Patnam port where iron ore and granite are the primary exports where as coal, crude palm oil, fertilizers, non-refined sugar and gypsum are the primary imports. With about 20,000 MW coal based thermal power plants coming up in the Nellore region, coal is bound to be the mainstay for the port. It is estimated that more than 500 Kg of coal is required per hour per MW taking the total requirement to an astonishing 10,000 tonnes per hour or 240,000 tonnes per day.

Four palm oil refineries have come up in the near by Muthukur region along with a packaging industry. These refineries have so far imported about 600,000 tonnes of crude palm oil for processing and packing. Another 15 refineries are slated to be setup in the near future.

The railway line from the port to Venkatachala Satram junction on the Chennai-Kolkata main line is almost complete. Works are underway to extend the line till Cuddapah to facilitate easy transportation of iron ore for exports.