First Private Port To Be Commissioned By Year-End

The first private port in the country is expected to start functioning by the end of the year. The port is being promoted by the Ahmedabad-based Adani group, which enjoys the status of a superstar trading house and has an annual turnover of over Rs 1,100 crore.

The project is coming up at Mundra in the Kutch district of Gujarat, just over 50 km from Kandla. It will require an initial investment of Rs 340 crore, followed by investments worth Rs 1,200 crore during the next two stages, to be spread over five years.

A term loan of Rs 200 crore has already been sanctioned by the Industrial Finance Corporation of India, while the balance will be raised from Adani group companies. The group is likely to dilute its equity in the port project to raise funds during the second and third stages.

The chief managing director of Adani Exports, Gautam Adani, said the company had decided to go in for the project as its growth was being stunted because of congestion at the existing ports.

Adani claimed that the proposed port would be a model of automated cargo-handling and storage with a capacity of two million tonnes of bulk cargo and half-a-million tonnes of liquid cargo, which would subsequently be increased to handle 20 million tonnes in a phased manner. Some of the oil companies have already contacted us for storage facilities at the port, he said.

In order to meet the power requirement of the port, the Adani group has already bid for three naphtha-based power plants of 50 mw each. The plants will be built close to the port in association with Marubeni. The group has also bought 3,000 acres close to the port and plans to develop an industrial park in the region.