Mumbai, Oct. 21 -- Essar Ports has secured a letter of award from Deendayal Port Authority (DPA) to develop an 18.33-million-tonne-a-year multipurpose cargo terminal at Tuna Tekra in Gujarat's Kandla port, marking a renewed push by the group to expand its ports business.
The project carries an estimated cost of Rs 2,276.06 crore, including an investment of Rs 1,552.57 crore by Essar Ports and Rs 723.49 crore by the port authority, the company said in a statement.
The terminal will be developed under a 30-year build-operate-transfer concession through the public-private partnership route, with Essar emerging as the highest bidder in a global competitive bidding process. The project will add capacity for handling dry and other multipurpose cargo on India's western coast.
The proposed facility will have four berths, each measuring 300 metres. It will be designed to accommodate vessels of up to 1,70,000 deadweight tonnes, with a draft capability of up to 18 metres, enabling the handling of larger ships and potentially improving economies of scale in cargo transport.
DPA will provide common-user infrastructure as well as a common approach road. The terminal is to be developed in line with applicable environmental requirements and the Green Port Policy.
Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Millennium Post.