UK firm forms JV for container freight station

UK-based Eredene Capital Plc has committed to invest around Rs 40 crore for developing a new container freight station (CFS) close to the Ennore port. The investment is a joint venture with the Chennai-based Sattva Business Group.

The Eredene group has committed the investment for an initial 85 per cent equity stake in a special purpose vehicle that will develop and operate the CFS on a site 18 km from the Ennore port. Eredene had already invested in Sattva for setting up a CFS at Vichoor.

The proposed CFS will be located on a state highway near the Ponneri town, north of Ennore. The land will be purchased in phases, with an initial acquisition of around 35 acres.

The site will be developed initially for warehouse operations and will be converted into a full-fledged CFS by the time the new Ennore container terminal is ready, which is scheduled for 2011, according to an Eredene representative.

The group is also one of the bidders for the proposed Rs 1,300-crore container terminal at the Ennore port, in a consortium led by Barcelona-based port operator Grup Marítim TCB.

The consortium is one of the six that would be submitting a formal bid for the Ennore container terminal. Eredene holds a 22 per cent interest in this consortium.