coal and iron ore stack yards and the other culminating at the upcoming container terminals. The link would eventually upgraded to a dual-track one. In-principle approval from the Indian Railways was obtained in September 2013. Rail connectivity project works to link coal and iron ore stackyards with Athipattu station on the Chennai–Vijayawada mainline are under the implementation at a cost of 516 million. Meanwhile, the coal and iron ore stackyards are being serviced through a new-line operationalised in November 2010. Awards Ennore Port has been conferred with the "memorandum of excellence certificate" by the Government of India for 2008–09. It is the second consecutive year that the port has been selected for the honour. The union ministry of heavy industries and public enterprises had granted MoU excellence awards and certificates for achieving "excellent" MoU rating. Government of India has accorded Category-I Mini Ratna status to Ennore Port Limited. The future The Planning Commission has approved a rail connectivity for Ennore Port to the coal, iron and container terminals. There is a US$230-million expansion for the port in progress. An iron ore terminal is currently in the process of construction by PSA Sical. The terminal will have a capacity for 12 million tonnes of cargo per year, expandable to 15/20 million tonnes per year. Facilities include a jetty, ship loader, mechanised handling system with conveyor, storage, and a wagon unloading system. The port is expanding its cargo handling capacity to 87 million tonnes a year in the next 5 years as mandated by the Union Government, according to a press release from Ennore Port Ltd. Though the port started as a dirty port to take over the coal and ore handling from the Chennai Port, it has suggested a proposal for a modern container terminal. The facility would have a capacity to handle 1.5 million TEUs (18 million tonnes). The port has started competing with the Chennai Port on handling of container traffic. Recently, the Nissan-Renault car manufacturing company picked it over the Chennai Port for the car exports. To facilitate this, a US$320-million expansion has been approved and will commence by March 2009. The port also won Toyota for its exports of cars manufactured near Bangalore. Mitsui is working on creating an auto yard in the port to facilitate the exports. The port is also planning to build a four-lane road linking the new terminal with the national highway (NH-5).