New Delhi: The Standing Finance Committee of Ministry of Shipping has cleared a project for setting up an exclusive, fully mechanized handling facility for fertilizer cargo at Deendayal Port in Kandla. The facility will be developed at berth number 14 of the port, which is being constructed at an approximate cost of Rs.138 crore. The port will further invest approximately Rs.340 crore for the project from its internal resources. Initially, the proposed facility will handle 2.60 MMTPA and subsequently this will be raised to 4.50 MMTPA.

In the proposed project all activities, right from unloading of bulk fertilizer cargo from the ships to loading of the bagged fertilizer onto the wagons will be fully mechanized. The fertilizer cargo will be unloaded using Mobile Harbour Cranes onto Mobile Hoppers. The conveyor system, along with the tipper system, will transfer the cargo to the cargo storage shed of 38,500 m2. The storage shed will be equipped with 40 sets of bagging and stitching units which will feed the bagged cargo directly into wagons to reduce labour, movement and will optimize time and as such the logistic cost will come down.

At present, the handling of fertilizer cargo at Deendayal Port involves multiple movements and agencies. The mechanized facility will reduce the same and ensure faster delivery of the cargo to the end users. It will be beneficial to the farmers in terms of cost and faster delivery. For the fertilizer importers, the benefits of the proposed facility will be:

Efficient operation due to end to end mechanization
No contamination of fertilizer cargo due to dedicated mechanization and closed PEB Shed
No internal vehicular movement for transfer of cargo
Less number of labour required due to mechanization and no multiple handling
One time transfer through equipment and conveyor
Mechanized Dust Suppression to avoid dust
Lower rake turn-around time
Lower vessel turn-around time
Lower logistics cost

The tendering work for the project is in progress. The facility is expected to be commissioned by October, 2020.

PIB