According to JNPT chairman MP Pinto, the high-level committee on environment clearance has already given its nod to the project. "A formal okay is likely to be communicated to us soon," he added.

The terminal is designed to add new capacity of 15 million to 20 million tonnes per annum at the port. It will have back-up facilities on a vast stretch of land which will be reclaimed from the sea.

Pinto who was speaking at a function organised at the Indian Merchants' Chamber (IMC) recently, disclosed that Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust has embarked on four major infrastructure projects at a total cost of about Rs 3,000 crore.

These include a two-berth container terminal to be implemented during 1999-2001 at Rs 700 crore, a shallow berth terminal to be built in 2001-2002 at Rs 35 crore, a liquid cargo berth of BPCL-IOC joint venture to be built during2001-2002 at a cost of Rs 200 crore, a five-berth marine chemicals terminal and back-up facilities to be implemented during 1999-2003 at a cost of about Rs 2,050 crore.

According to Pinto, the new two-berth container terminal will have a capacity to handle port-panamax size container vessels and will expand capacity by an additional 7.5 million tonnes per annum. One of the berths is likely to be operational in early 1999.

The ports liquid cargo berth being built by BPCL-IOC will lead to a capacity addition of 6 million tonnes per annum at the port. The venture will also build back-up facilities like tank farms for the berth.

In the next 10 years, JNPT plans to invest about Rs 25,450 crore which is to be financed partly by the government's budgetary allocations, internal accruals and private sector investment.

Unlike major power generation projects, the port's projects are not a befitting case for consideration of offering counter-guarantee by the government, he said.

In a bid to focus on its corebusiness, the port has sought to hive-off many of its peripheral businesses to the private sector. It has already spun off the operations of the port craft to private companies, handed over warehousing to the Central Warehousing Corporation (CWC), container handling support services to private transporters and port maintenance to firms specialising in the job.

According to the chairman of the JNPT, the port will soon farm out functions like reception and treatment, pilotage, power generation and distribution to competent private companies.

The seminar threw light on the fact that shipping companies should not be permitted to discharge cargo in the port from the vessel until a complete general manifest is filed with the customs department. It was also urged that the customs should set up a fail-proof system of electronic data interchange for export shipping bills.

The port has set a target of 10 million tonnes of cargo for the current financial year against which it has already handled over 5.5 milliontonnes during the first half of the current financial year.