JSW Infrastructure Ltd. announced that it has opened its first container terminal at New Mangalore Port Trust (NMPT), marking its foray into the containerized cargo business.
The Company has a 30-year concession agreement with NMPT for this container terminal on a design, build, finance, operate and transfer (DBFOT) basis.
The container terminal has a quay length of 350 meters and a reserve storage area of 15.5 hectares.
Arun Maheshwari, Joint Managing Director and CEO, said: “The new container terminal will help us to achieve an optimal cargo mix to steadily increase the proportion of third-party cargo business.”
“The first phase of development of this terminal has been completed and allows us a current cargo capacity of 2.4 lakh TEU. To capture the emerging business opportunity in containerized freight, we are investing in excess of £300m to bring total capacity to almost 400,000 TEU by FY24,” he added.
The Company’s mechanized container terminal will support the inland water-based infrastructure and regional development of the Mangalore Special Economic Zone. It is expected to spur the growth of cargo business in the hinterland regions of Karnataka, including Hassan, Shimoga, Mysore, Bengaluru, South Karnataka and surrounding industrial hubs, the company said.
The terminal at the NMPT is designed to handle mainliner cargo ships in the port with up to 9,000 TEU.
NMPT is an all-weather lagoon port in Panambur, Mangalore in Karnataka and one of the most important ports playing a key role in the economic development of Karnataka.
Container traffic at NMPT has been growing at a CAGR of 15% since 2016, compared to a 7% growth in Indian container traffic.
