JSW Infrastructure on Wednesday said it has signed a concession agreement with New Mangalore Port Trust (NMPT) to develop and operate its first container terminal project at the port for 30 years.
The infrastructure company, part of the USD 14 billion JSW Group, is investing nearly Rs 300 crore to develop the terminal which will have a capacity of 400,000 TEUs (twenty- foot equivalent units), it said.
As part of the proposed investment, JSW Infrastructure will undertake mechanisation of berth number 14 for handling containers and other cargo on Design, Build, Finance, Operate and Transfer (DBFOT) basis, the company said in a statement.
The container terminal will have a quay length of 350 metres and accommodate vessels up to 9000 TEUs.
It will have a backup storage area of 15.5 hectares for storage of container.
Joint MD & CEO of JSW Infrastructure Arun Maheshwari said the concession agreement with NMPT is part of the company's strategic direction to achieve 200 MTPA cargo handling capacity over next couple of years.
"Container terminal at NMPT will enable us to expand our footprints in container segment and diversify our cargo mix. We expect to commission the terminal by mid of next year," he said.
Senior Vice President of JSW Infrastructure, Devki Nandan, added: "We plan to introduce main line vessels connecting to key destinations worldwide."
NMPT is an all-weather, lagoon type port situated at Panambur, Mangalore in Karnataka and is one of the major ports playing a key role for the economic development of Karnataka.
Over the years, the NMPT has grown fast to handle over 42 million tonnes of cargo traffic in 2018-19.
Container traffic at NMPT has been growing at a CAGR of 15 per cent since 2013 as compared to Indian container traffic growth of 7.52 per cent, according to the statement.
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