New terminal to boost JNPT capacity - Video

With the formal commissioning of the third container terminal, Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust (JNPT) will add 50 per cent capacity to handle containerised traffic. JNPT handles over 58 per cent of the container traffic of the port.

The third container terminal, which is India's largest container terminal, was formally launched by tariff authority for major ports chairman Arun Laxman Bongirwar.

This terminal, with a quay length of 712 metre, is designed to handle 1.3 to 1.5 million Twenty foot Equivalent Units (TEUs). JN Port, which operates two terminals, including a private terminal, has handled 2.67 million TEUs in the last financial year.

The third container terminal, known as Gateway Terminals India Private, is a 74:26 joint venture between APM Terminals and Container Corporation of India (CONCOR). APM Terminals is part of the AP Moller-Maersk group and a leading, independent, container terminal operator.

CONCOR is a Government of India undertaking and is the largest provider of containerised rail transport in India. Gateway Terminals is developed on the BoT basis for 30 years.

Tommy Thomsen, partner, AP Moller- Maersk and chairman, APM Terminals, stated: "India stands at the threshold of a new era. The containerised trade is set to grow to 15 million TEUs by 2015 from mere 5 million in this year. The AP Moller-Maersk group is dedicated to making the necessary investment to develop the port infrastructure required to meet the future demands of the global container trade."

Gateway Terminals executives said currently shipping lines are operating nine different services to various international destinations. "This will go up to 14 services by February," they added.

The terminal has inducted eight post panamax Quay Gantry Cranes and three Rail Mounted Gantry Cranes for container handling operations. Gateways Terminals was partially operational since March 2005.

Kim Fejfer, CEO, APM Terminals, based in The Hague, Netherlands, said, "The terminal opened six months ahead of schedule and has now turned fully operational. Much of what we have been able to achieve here comes from our local partnership with CONCOR, in this joint venture, and the support of JNPT, and other Indian Government organisations."

Anil Kumar Gupta, director (domestic division), CONCOR, and director, Gateway Terminals, said, "This is a successful example of public-private partnership in development of the port sector. We are committed to ensuring fast, reliable connectivity to all the customers from Gateway of Mumbai to all the major market centers in the country."