The Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust in Navi Mumbai is in the process of expanding its capacity five fold in the next eight to 10 years, apart from its major projects such as setting up of a special economic zone in a public private partnership. The company is, in the process of floating a tender, seeking eligible partners for dredging of the Channel up to 14 metres at a cost of INR 1,600 crore, in the next two years

Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of JNPT’s agreement with Venice Port Authority to enhance direct shipping between the two ports, Mr L Radhakrishnan chairman said that “We would be increasing our capacity from around 4.5 million TEUs to 20 million TEUs in the next eight to 10 years in a phased manner.”

At present, it handles 55% to 60% of the total container trade in India.

The trust expects development of a fourth container terminal with an estimated capacity of 4.8 million TEUs, at a cost of around INR 8,000 crore, to be completed in the next three to four years. The company has awarded a contract to the Port of Singapore to develop the terminal. Smaller capacity addition projects for one million TEUs at a cost of around INR 700 crore is also expected to come up in a couple of years.

The dredging of the channel up to 14 meters in the first phase, at a cost of around INR 1,600 crore is also getting ready.

Mr Radhakrishnan said that it is planning to finalize a partner through tender process to go ahead with the project.

It is to be noted that according to earlier reports, the central government refused to approve a proposal from the trust to raise money through tax free bonds to fund the dredging project.

Mr Radhakrishnan said that we have our investment mostly as land, of around 7,000 acre, when asked about funding of the projects. JNPT has a reserve of INR 2,000 crore and most of its projects are on a revenue sharing model. For instance, for our project for fourth terminal with Port of Singapore, we have a 51% revenue sharing.

(Sourced from BS)