India has revived a long-contemplated plan to build a new container terminal at Tuna Tekra, about 15 miles from Kandla Port, now renamed Deendayal Port Authority. The latter is a major government-owned cargo gateway on the west coast.
The landlord port, which currently has no dedicated container-handling infrastructure, saw its previous attempts to set up a container terminal on the same site fall through because of a lukewarm response from investors. A first bidding effort collapsed in 2014 due to a lack of interest.
Under the new development program announced on 18 July, the port authority plans to develop two mega cargo-handling terminals on a build-operate-transfer (BOT) basis, via public-private partnership investment arrangements, at an estimated cost of about US$745 million.
The proposed container terminal will be designed with draughts ranging from 14 to 18 metres, able to handle large-size vessels of 6,000 to 21,000-TEU capacity.
Source: container-news.com
