The government of India has approved the development of two deep-water marine terminal projects at Kandla Port (Deendayal Port), a major west coast harbour.
The plan consists of a container terminal and a multipurpose cargo facility, estimated to cost Rs. 4,539.84 crore (US$550 million) and Rs. 2,250.64 crore (US$272 million), respectively. Of the projected investments, the port authority will spend Rs. 296.20 crore (US$36 million) and Rs. 531.42 crore (US$64 million), respectively, towards dredging of the common user access channel and construction of common road infrastructure.
The projects will be developed on a build-operate-transfer (BOT) model at a new site known as Tuna Tekra, about 15 miles from Kandla.
“On commissioning of the project, it shall cater to the future growth in container cargo traffic,” India’s Ministry of Shipping said in a statement.
The ministry noted, “From 2025, a net gap of 1.88 million TEUs shall be available which can be catered by the development of a state-of-the-art container terminal at Tuna-Tekra and will give it a strategic advantage as it will be the closed container terminal serving the vast hinterland of northern part of India (Jammu and Kashmir, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan). In addition to increasing the business potential of Kandla, the project will boost the economy and generate employment.”
The ministry also sees significant growth potential for the proposed multipurpose terminal.
“On commissioning of the project, it shall cater to the future growth in multipurpose cargo (other than container/liquid) traffic,” it said.
The ministry went on to add, “The projected traffic gap by the year 2026 would be 2.85 MMTPA and by 2030, it would be 27.49 MMTPA. The development of multipurpose cargo (other than container/liquid) berth off Tuna Tekra in the Gulf of Kutch at Kandla will give it a strategic advantage as it will be the closest terminal serving the vast hinterland of northern part of India.”
A previous tender attempt by the Kandla port authority on the Tuna-Tekra project was eventually scrapped in 2014 because of lukewarm interest from investors.
With a market-driven tariff mechanism now in place following the implementation of a new port law last year, industry observers expect greater investor response to the new bidding plan.
Kandla saw overall cargo volumes grow 13.2% year-over-year in the April-September period, the first half of the Indian fiscal year 2022-22.
However, its container throughput remained almost flat, at 245,000 TEU, according to data obtained by Container News.
Source: Container News