Adani Ports and Terminal Investments are all set to jointly develop a major transhipment hub at Mundra

Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone (APSEZ), part of Adani Group informed stock exchanges on Wednesday that it will expand its existing terminal Adani International Container Terminal Private Limited (AICTPL) at its Mundra port. AICTPL is a 50:50 joint venture of APSEZ with Terminal Investment Ltd (TIL). TIL is an arm of Swiss-based Mediterranean Shipping Company, the second largest shipping liner in the world.

APSEZ is in the business of providing infrastructural facilities. The Company is primarily involved in the business of developing, operating and maintaining the port and port-based infrastructure services, including a multi product special economic zone at port location. It has segments viz. Port and Special Economic Zone activities etc.

The current expansion is being carried out to create a transhipment hub for the Middle East, South Asia and India. Construction has already commenced and the terminal will be commissioned in 15 months. Upon completion, AICTPL will emerge as India’s largest container terminal with a total quay length of 1,460 meters, and cargo handling capacity of 3.1 million, twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs). It will be equipped with 15 super post panamax quay cranes, capable of handling 18,000 TEU container vessels at the terminal.

The expansion of AICTPL will position Mundra as the major transhipment hub in the country providing congestion free and cost effective solutions, and it will emerge as a transhipment hub for the Middle East, South Asia & India. It will also make Mundra the largest Container Port in India with a cumulative capacity of 6.6 million TEU, and will help in achieving our vision of handling 200 million metric tonnes of annual cargo by 2020.

Mundra Port already enjoys the coveted reputation of being the largest private commercial port in the country. The current expansion will also position Mundra as the largest Container Port in the country with 4 state of the art container terminals having a cumulative handling capacity of 6.6 million TEUs, spread over an area of approximately 146 Hectares. Its deep draught and strategic location on the Indian coastline makes it an ideal choice for establishing a transhipment hub.

With this APSEZ is also diversifying its business to reduce the dependency on single Mundra port. It has recently received approval to develop the Vizhinjam Port in Kerala. Last year, it had acquired Dhamra Port in Odisha from Tata Steel and L&T Infrastructure, for an estimated Rs 5500 crore and it is also developing a Rs 1270 crore container terminal inside Ennore Port, whose first phase is expected to be ready by January 2016. This will give them a strategic advantage in future which can help company to improve financials.