KARAIKAL PORT SEES OFF FIRST BATCH OF EXPORT PROJECT CARGO BELONGING TO BHEL, TRICHY
Chennai, February 01, 2010: MARG Limited, India's leading diversified infrastructure development company promoted Karaikal Port, flagged off the first batch of the prestigious export cargo of Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL), the Indian power equipment major. The first shipment of the export cargo – 236 packages of various size and dimensions totalling 7745 CBM and 3452 MT, which were loaded onto M. V. Cape Hobart to New Caledonia, a French colony near Australia, sailed out on January 28, 2010, in the presence of senior officials from BHEL, Karaikal Port and Koniambo Nickel.
MARG Ltd., built, owns and operates Karaikal Port, a new bulk and break-bulk cargo terminal dealing in multiple commodities. The Port has a contamination free area earmarked exclusively for handling project cargo. Project cargo, classified as 'clean cargo', requires high hygiene conditions for storage and handling; and BHEL officials, satisfied with the sanitary conditions and its capabilities to handle the sensitive cargo, awarded the contract of storing and exporting their cargo through the New generation Greenfield port.
Mr GRK Reddy, Chairman & Managing Director, MARG Ltd., on this occasion said, "It's our great pleasure to be awarded this contract because this is the first time that BHEL, a government agency, has selected a private port for the export of cargo. Karaikal Port has been regularly handling project cargo for companies such as NOCL and HOEC; and the port has met all the qualifying standards set by BHEL, besides offering an economically viable proposal."
The Government-owned company's export consignment through the Karaikal Port were the boiler components for two 135-MW Circulating Fluidised Bed Combustion (CFBC) boilers to Koniambo Nickel based in New Caledonia. BHEL despatched 14,000 tonnes of components for each of the two boilers to New Caledonia.
A senior BHEL official said, "The main reason for choosing the Karaikal Port over Chennai is the clean Port condition mentioned by the client Koniambo Nickel. The Karaikal Port is new and clean; and BHEL expects to save substantially on freight and wharf charges by exporting equipment through the port, thus establishing the port as not only a quality but also a competitive facility. In a short span of time, the port has managed to become a hub for transporters owing to its cargo handling efficiency and faster turnaround times.
ABOUT BHEL:
BHEL is the largest engineering and manufacturing enterprise in India in the energy-related/infrastructure sector, today. BHEL was established more than 40 years ago, ushering in the indigenous Heavy Electrical Equipment industry in India - a dream that has been more than realized with a well-recognized track record of performance. The company has been earning profits continuously since 1971-72 and paying dividends since 1976-77.
BHEL manufactures over 180 products under 30 major product groups and caters to core sectors of the Indian Economy viz., Power Generation & Transmission, Industry, Transportation, Telecommunication, Renewable Energy, etc. The wide network of BHEL's 14 manufacturing divisions, four Power Sector regional centres, over 100 project sites, eight service centres and 18 regional offices, enables the Company to promptly serve its customers and provide them with suitable products, systems and services -- efficiently and at competitive prices. The high level of quality & reliability of its products is due to the emphasis on design, engineering and manufacturing to international standards by acquiring and adapting some of the best technologies from leading companies in the world, together with technologies developed in its own R&D centres.
ABOUT KARAIKAL PORT
Karaikal Port is a state-of-the-art all-weather, deep-water port, located 250 kms South of Chennai at Karaikal on a Build Operate Transfer (BOT) basis. The Government of Puducherry awarded MARG Ltd., the Concession for the development of the Port at Karaikal. MARG has incorporated a Special Purpose Company - Karaikal Port Private Limited - for implementation and operation of the Project. The Port will be developed in a phase-wise manner. The first phase is operational from April 2009. The Karaikal Port project is emerging as a successful example in Greenfield port development.
For more information, please log on to www.karaikalport.com |
