APM Terminals Pipavav's (Gujarat Pipavav Port NSE -0.45 % Ltd) board has approved its expansion plan of about Rs 700 crore, which includes improving facilities for handling bigger ships and raising the container capacity to 1.6 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs), a top company official said.
APM Terminals Pipavav currently has a capacity to handle up to 1.35 million TEUs of containers, 4-5 million tonnes of dry bulk cargo, 2 million tonnes of liquid cargo and about 2,50,000 cars per year.
During lockdown, the port handled more than 622 container trains, 1,86,000 TEUs, out of which 1,10,000 TEUs were by trains. The port also handled dry bulk shipments of 0.41 million metric tons and 0.21 million metric tons liquid in the June quarter of this fiscal.
"Though Indian economy contracted due to global slowdown and impact of COVID-19 on businesses, we believe the long-term growth potential of the economy is still intact," APM Terminals Pipavav Managing Director Jakob Friis Sorensen told in an e-mail interaction.
"Our board has approved an expansion plan of approx Rs 700 crore in improving the port's ability to handle bigger ships and eventually expanding the container capacity to 1.6 million TEUs," he added.
Stating that the port will wait for growth in cargo volume after commissioning of Dedicated Freight Corridor (DFC) for deciding on expanding container yard capacity, Sorensen said, "We await the confirmation of concession extension from Gujarat Maritime Board (GMB) to execute our expansion plans."