Coal news and updates

Essar Ports’ Salaya terminal likely to start by Oct

January 30: Essar Ports Limited recently said its Salaya bulk terminal in Gujarat is expected to start operations by October this year.

An official statement from the company said, “Final forest clearance for the Salaya terminal has been received and bund construction from the land side is on in full swing.”

The Visakhapatnam iron ore terminal is also likely to start operation from the final quarter of the current fiscal (Q4). “The project will significantly enhance third-party mix of the company and give strategic presence on the east coast after Paradip. Project site for development of the coal terminal at Paradip Port is expected to be handed over by the Paradip Port Trust soon, post which project construction will start,” the statement added.

Meanwhile, Essar Ports Ltd reported a 4.6% increase in its consolidated net profit for the October-December quarter of 2014-15 to Rs 98.34 crore against Rs 94.01 crore reported in the same quarter of the previous fiscal, the company said in a statement.

Rajiv Agarwal, Managing Director, Essar Ports Limited, said: “The company has achieved another quarter of consistently strong performance. We are quite bullish at the moment with a few of our projects expected to start operations during this year. There is  significant opportunity for the Indian port sector to multiply capacity and traffic over the next few years, which is being further strengthened through the government’s focus on the ‘Make in India’ campaign. We are well positioned to capture the growth.”