September 08, 2008

DP World moving ahead with Kerala and WB plans

BL reported that leading global port operator Dubai Port World is going ahead with its current projects in Kerala and West Bengal where it plans to have a say in India’s cargo traffic across the Indian Ocean.

DP World’s projects at Kulpi in West Bengal and Vallarpadam in Kerala are both green field projects and greater part of the USD 500 million worth Indian investments, announced last year, has been invested in the development of these facilities.

Currently, DP World operates terminals in India at Mundra in Kutch district, Nhava Sheva International Container Terminal in Maharashtra, Chennai, Kochi and Visakhapatnam. It handled 4 million TEUs in India last year, including 650,000 TEUs at Mundra.

DP World is also currently developing facilities for the new container terminal at Vallarpadam within the Cochin Port Trust administration. With the commissioning of the new container handling facility at Vallarpadam, the existing container terminal will be handed over to the Cochin Port Trust administration for developing it as a non container facility. The Cochin Port Trust would develop road and rail links to the new facility in the first quarter of 2009.

DPW is also developing a multi-product SEZ spread over 1,040 hectares and a green field container terminal on the east bank of River Hooghly. The port will be connected to the National Highway network through a new four lane expressway and a new bridge across the river, both of which are being developed by the West Bengal Government.