Essar Ports has secured a letter of award from Deendayal Port Authority to develop an 18.33-million-tonne-a-year multipurpose cargo terminal at Tuna Tekra in Gujarat’s Kandla port. The project is valued at Rs. 22.76 bn, comprising Rs. 15.53 bn to be invested by Essar Ports and Rs. 7.23 bn by the port authority.

The terminal will be developed under a 30-year build-operate-transfer concession through the public-private partnership route. Essar Ports emerged as the highest bidder in a global competitive bidding process, securing a long-term operating role at the facility.

The proposed terminal will have four berths, each measuring 300 metres, providing a combined berth length of 1,200 metres. It will be designed to handle vessels of up to 170,000 deadweight tonnes and have a draft capability of up to 18 metres, supporting the handling of larger ships.

Deendayal Port Authority will provide common-user infrastructure, including dredging of the access channel, berth pockets and turning circles, along with a common approach road. The terminal will be developed in accordance with applicable environmental requirements and the Green Port Policy.

The additional capacity is intended to support dry and other multipurpose cargo handling on India’s western coast, ease pressure on existing dry-cargo berths and improve turnaround and cargo-handling efficiency. The facility will also strengthen links between the port and inland transport networks, while larger-vessel access could support shipping and logistics competitiveness.

The award is part of Essar’s effort to rebuild and expand its ports business in India and overseas. The group currently has about 60 mn tonnes a year of operational port capacity across India, Indonesia and the United Kingdom. Kandla, officially known as Deendayal Port, is a major gateway on the Gulf of Kutch and serves cargo requirements in north-western India.