Mitsubishi seeks port for car trade

In talks with Gujarat for Rs 3,000 cr project.

Japanese automobile giant Mitsubishi Motors is scouting for a deep water port to set up the country's first car terminal in Gujarat. The investment for the project is estimated at Rs 3,000 crore.

The car terminal will be designed to handle import and export from big car-carrying ships. The terminal will have the capacity to ship 400,000 vehicles a year.

At present, in the absence of an exclusive car terminal, the Mumbai port, Nhava Sheva, Chennai and Kandla offer vehicle-handling services from their bulk cargo terminals.

Mitsubishi is in talks with the Gujarat government's port administration body, the Gujarat Maritime Board, for identifying the facility and is looking at the Vansi-Borsi Port and the Maroli Port.

Gujarat Maritime Board Chief Nautical Officer SC Mathur confirmed the development and said, "The Japanese major had three round of talks with the board but nothing has been finalised."

Mitsubishi executives could not be contacted for comments but sources close to the development said the company was looking at Maroli Port and was demanding a channel depth of 11.5 metres.

"It is also exploring options of setting up exclusive terminals at existing ports such as Mundra, Pipavav, Okha or Kandla," they said. The proposed terminal will be linked to the north-south dedicated rail freight corridor.

Mitsubishi Motors has a collaboration with Hindustan Motors for producing its Lancer and Pajero range of cars at the latter's Thiruvallur plant in Chennai.

Industry analysts pointed out that international automobile majors were eyeing exclusive vehicle terminals, as the country emerged as a hub for small cars. The government is promoting this through tax incentives for manufacture of small cars.