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Container Corporation of India (CONCOR) may soon kick off a dedicated coastal service from Krishnapatnam Port in Nellore district of Andhra Pradesh to Chittagong in Bangladesh to benefit the exporters in the region.
The hinterland of the port includes southern and central Andhra Pradesh, eastern Karnataka, northern Tamil Nadu and Eastern Maharashtra. Therefore, the coastal service from Krishnapatnam Port will be targeted to exporters in and around Hyderabad, Bengaluru, many areas of Andhra Pradesh and Nagpur, primarily those supplying raw material and engineering products to the textile industry of Bangladesh. The newly constructed India’s longest electrified tunnel will also help in providing viable rail connectivity between Krishnapatnam Port and its hinterland for goods train services.
“At present, containerised exports to Bangladesh from the region is routed through JNPT on the west coast. Exports from some areas such as Guntur is sent by road,” D. Satyanarayana, Senior general manager (C&O), South Central Region, CONCOR said recently. He also said that though this service will initially be launched as a fortnightly service, the frequency of the service can be increased once the patronage picks up.
For CONCOR, whose strong point is rail movement, the coastal service from Krishnapatnam Port will be first such service from the east coast. At present, it operates a coastal service from Kandla that connects Mangalore, Kochi and Tuticorin. The vessel used for the service can carry 700 TEUs (twenty foot equivalent units).
In order to encourage exporters from the region to use its services, CONCOR has also introduced an incentive scheme from May 1 that provides volume discounts above 30 TEUs a month.
