Cargo handling at Essar's Salaya port grows over 2-fold in April-June

Essar Ports on August 7 said its Salaya port terminal in Saurashtra region of Gujarat handled 1.3 million tonne (MT) cargo in the June quarter 2019.

Essar Bulk Terminal Salaya Ltd (EBTSL) had handled 0.5 MT cargo in the year-ago period.

"The performance marks not only a 160 percent growth in cargo handling over the corresponding quarter in the previous fiscal, but is also the best throughput achieved since the terminal's commissioning in 2018," the company said in a statement.

With the terminal's integrated 1,200 MW power plant (Essar Power Gujarat) resuming operations, EBTSL is hopeful of a significant boost to its topline and cargo throughput in subsequent quarters this year, it said.

The integrated Salaya power plant requires 4 MT of coal every year.

The company said the Salaya terminal, the first deep-draft terminal in the Saurashtra region, has been designed to berth up to Capesize vessels with a vessel turnaround time benchmarked with the world's best.

It is an all-weather terminal and is capable of handling commodities like coal, bauxite, limestone, fertilizer, and has the flexibility to both import and export cargo.

The mechanised stockyard integrated with Salaya terminal is 50 km from Jamnagar (towards Okha Highway) and is well connected with the Jamnagar-Okha State Highway.

Essar Ports is one of India's largest private sector port and terminal developers and operators.

It claims to have been investing Rs 11,000 crore in developing world-class terminals in three states.

The company said its current operations span four terminals with a combined capacity of 110 MTPA, which is roughly 5 percent of India's port capacity.