Kamarajar Port says Capital Dredging Phase VI is complete. The project moved from a 13.23 million cubic metre feasibility estimate to a February 2024 tender and an October 2024 award to Van Oord. It deepened the outer approach channel from 20.0 to 23.0 metres and the inner entrance channel from 19.0 to 22.0 metres, with work at berth fronts, the harbour basin and related navigational areas. The port now reports an 18.0-metre operating draft and capacity for fully laden Capesize vessels carrying up to 170,000 DWT.
Project signal
Completed in India
Use the owner and government completion record as the current project stage. Keep the 23.0-metre outer-channel depth, 22.0-metre inner-channel depth and 18.0-metre operating draft as different measures. The 13.23 million cubic metre planning estimate, INR 3.8 billion tender value, INR 4.407 billion award excluding GST and INR 5.45 billion launch description are also different source-specific baselines. None is a final measured quantity or final account.
Current statusThe Government of India reports Phase VI complete and Kamarajar operating at 18.0 metres draft; the post-dredge survey sheet and a first fully laden Capesize call are not publishedSource confidenceConfirmed
Location
India / Asia Pacific
Segment
Dredging
Status
The Government of India reports Phase VI complete and Kamarajar operating at 18.0 metres draft; the post-dredge survey sheet and a first fully laden Capesize call are not published / Confirmed
Evidence reviewed
18 July 2026
Controlled taxonomy
Related sectors
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Knowledge context
Related knowledge topics
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Project anatomy
Scope, counterparties, and execution logic
Client / authority
Kamarajar Port Limited
Delivery parties
Van Oord Marine Contractors BV
Contract route
Kamarajar's 2022-23 annual report records approval of a draft feasibility report based on about 13.23 million cubic metres and an estimated INR 5.492 billion cost. The Government of India eProcurement System then published the global Phase VI tender on 16 February 2024 with an INR 3.8 billion tender value and 540-day period. Kamarajar's 2024-25 annual report records award to Van Oord Marine Contractors BV on 24 October 2024 for INR 4.407 billion excluding GST. A December 2024 government release described the capital-dredging investment as INR 5.45 billion. These are planning, tender, award and public-investment descriptions, not one comparable final cost series.
Execution window
The February 2024 tender specified 540 days. The contract was awarded on 24 October 2024, Kamarajar's 2024-25 annual report carried June 2026 as the expected finish, and the public completion announcement followed on 7 July 2026. The contractor's actual physical-completion date, accepted survey date and final completion certificate are not published.
Works package
Deepen the outer approach channel from 20.0 to 23.0 metres and the inner entrance channel from 19.0 to 22.0 metres, and dredge alongside berths, within the harbour basin and across associated navigational areas to support an 18.0-metre operating draft. The 13.23 million cubic metre figure belongs to the draft feasibility basis. The reviewed completion release does not state the final measured volume, sediment classification, plant spread or placement route.
Marine interfaces
Phase VI changed the common access system used by Kamarajar's bulk, coal, liquid, LNG, container and general-cargo berths. The dredged channel and basin depths are not the same as the port's operating draft: vessel access still depends on the accepted survey surface, under-keel-clearance policy, tide, traffic control, pilotage and berth availability.
Commercial read
The main capital-dredging contract is now reported complete, and the procurement trail is visible from feasibility through tender and award. The changing values should not be read as simple cost growth because their tax, scope and reporting bases differ. The unresolved commercial and operating record is the final measured quantity, accepted survey, completion certificate, final account, first deep-draft vessel evidence and maintenance regime needed to hold the new access geometry.
Next milestone
Confirm Kamarajar's post-dredge survey or declared-depth notice, the completion certificate and final account, then record the first fully laden Capesize call and the maintenance programme used to preserve the 18.0-metre operating draft.
Material change register
What changed, when, and what it proves
Only source-bound events that alter phase, scope, counterparties, delivery, completion, commissioning, or acceptance are listed. A change can advance the record without proving the next gate.
Government announced Phase VI complete
The completion release moved the project from construction to completed and stated an 18.0-metre operating draft, with outer and inner channel depths of 23.0 and 22.0 metres respectively.
Government marked the start of the capital-dredging work
The foundation-event release described an INR 5.45 billion capital-dredging investment. That public investment description is not a final account and should not replace the separate tender or award values.
The Government eProcurement record carried an INR 3.8 billion tender value, a 540-day period and an initial 17 April 2024 bid-opening date. These were tender-stage terms, not the later award or actual completion record.
Draft feasibility report set the upstream planning basis
Kamarajar's 2022-23 annual report recorded approval of a draft feasibility report with about 13.23 million cubic metres and an estimated INR 5.492 billion cost. These are planning estimates, not final measured quantity or expenditure.
Confirm Kamarajar's post-dredge survey or declared-depth notice, the completion certificate and final account, then record the first fully laden Capesize call and the maintenance programme used to preserve the 18.0-metre operating draft.
Decision watchpoints
Post-dredge hydrographic survey and formal declared-depth notice
Final dredged quantity, material destination and environmental close-out
Completion certificate, final account and any outstanding defect work
First fully laden Capesize call and recorded arrival or departure draft
Under-keel-clearance, pilotage and tidal operating limits at 18.0 metres
Maintenance-dredging plan for the approach, entrance, basin and berth fronts
This public project page is a tracked market record rather than a tender notice, contractual commitment, or commercial instruction. Use the status, confidence label, evidence-review date, and source note together when judging how much weight to place on the signal.
Evidence reviewed date is not a project-event date.
IMWO changes phase, participants, scope, completion, or acceptance wording only when a dated source establishes the change. The review date records when the evidence set was checked; it does not claim that physical work changed on that date.
Evidence reviewed18 July 2026Sources in this record6
Source record
Kamarajar's 2022-23 annual report supplies the upstream 13.23 million cubic metre and INR 5.492 billion feasibility estimates. The Government eProcurement page supplies the 16 February 2024 publication date, INR 3.8 billion tender value and 540-day period. Kamarajar's 2024-25 annual report establishes the contractor, award date, INR 4.407 billion contract value excluding GST and June 2026 expected completion. The 7 December 2024 government release describes an INR 5.45 billion investment at the foundation event, while the 7 July 2026 release establishes completion, channel-depth changes, 18.0-metre operating draft and stated 170,000 DWT capability. Kamarajar's Survey and Dredging page establishes continuing hydrographic and declared-depth responsibilities. The public record reviewed here does not publish final dredged quantity, material routing, the accepted post-dredge survey, final account or a first fully laden Capesize call.
Phase: completed. Evidence reviewed: 18 July 2026.