India?s largest private port, run by the Adani Group, has witnessed a surge in shipments this fiscal, making light of a slowdown in international trade that has marred the performance of nearly all other major ports in the country.
Located in the rustic town of Mundra in Gujarat?s arid Kutch district, this port has registered a 17% rise in container traffic, outshining other key container handling ports such as the Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust (JNPT), Chennai and Pipavav. This far-flung dock on the edge of Gujarat?s horn has witnessed such rapid growth in recent years that it is now India?s number three container port behind JNPT and Chennai.
The port?s infrastructure has helped it attract cargo, say Adani officials. It has been designed to handle all types of cargo such as containers, dry bulk, liquids and even automobiles. A few kilometres from Mundra port, several multi-coloured containers offloaded from ships are stacked up in blocks that look like giant, impossibly jumbled Rubik?s Cubes. Enormous cranes?that can lift 60 tonnes of cargo and have wheels that allow them to maneuver around the port freely?are lined up next to each other on the west basin, where imported coal is dumped on to a conveyor belt that carries it to the town?s power plants.
Analysts reckon Mundra has gained largely from state-run JNPT?s limitations such as congestion. Moreover, Maersk, one of the world?s biggest shipping companies, added Mundra to its port locations last year, helping boost container traffic. The hinterland of Mundra, including from the new industrial hub of Sanand, has more traffic potential than other ports in Gujarat, experts say.
The Adani Group, which employs more than 5,000 people in the Kutch district, expects to expand the port?s capacity to 200 million tonnes of cargo per year by 2020 from the current 78 million tonnes. A goal that company officials believe will be achieved much sooner, perhaps even as early as 2015, an indication of the ever-strengthening trade.
Gujarat is known for its investor-friendly environment under the state?s controversial chief minister Narendra Modi who was recently elected for the third straight term. This has fast-tracked the development of the port town of Mundra, where two of India?s largest conglomerates, Tata and Adani, have built power plants so massive that they have acquired the appellation of ultra mega power plants (UMPPs).
Tata?s power plant has a capacity of 4,000 MW, while Adani?s neighbouring plant can generate up to 4,620 MW, making it the biggest private power plant in the country. There are many more power plants that are being built in the state, with Adani looking to set up a 2,640 MW plant at Dahej and a 3,300 MW facility at Bhadreswar. All this has made Gujarat a power surplus state in a country that faces a 9% shortfall in electricity generation.
Nearly all of India?s major business dynasties, from the Tatas to the Ambanis, have established operations in Gujarat. Reliance Industries, Essar Group, Adani Group and Tata Group have invested billions of dollars along the Gulf of Kutch?s 700-km-long coastline. Modi has won plaudits from his supporters, who believe he has helped build roads and infrastructure, beefed up law enforcement and invited business into Gujarat.
The fruits of the state?s ?investor friendliness? can be gauged by comparing Mundra to the ailing Haldia port in West Bengal. The Haldia Dock Complex, Kolkata Port Trust?s main cargo handling arm, was set up in 1977 on land stretching across 6,377 acres, with a hinterland extending to Nepal, Bhutan, the seven north-eastern states and the eastern states of West Bengal, Bihar and Jharkhand (then Bihar). The port, seen as a gateway to the far east, had been expected to boost trade and investment in the east. But today, the port not only faces technical hazards, but also slipping volumes and low trade. Recently, private cargo handler ABG Haldia Bulk Terminals (HBT) pulled out of Haldia, citing law and order troubles.
Mundra port, which is also a special economic zone in the arid Kutch district, has other reasons for its success as well. ?The serene waters of Mundra make it an ideal port. There are never any waves here, it doesn?t thrash about like it does in Chowpatty in Mumbai,? says an Adani official.
The region?s socio-economic indicators, such as employment and wages, have also strengthened as a result of the economic development. ?Rich Gujaratis are returning home from abroad and other states because of this period of economic prosperity,? remarks Balwinder Jadeja (name changed), a Rajput driver from the Kutch district who returned from Mumbai following the Bhuj earthquake in 2001 to assist his family in rebuilding their home.
?In that direction is Madhapar village where NRI Patels have set up farmhouses. It is the richest village in India. You should see the houses there, they are top-class,? he says, pointing to the dry open spaces that flank the smooth road.
However, it hasn?t been an entirely smooth ride. Dubai?s DP World, the world?s fourth-largest port operator, is set to exit its container handling terminal at Mundra port, FE reported in December. DP World?s Mundra International Container Terminal operates one of the two container handling facilities at Mundra port. The move follows the end of a long-drawn legal battle between the Adani Group and DP World. The lease will be terminated early into the concession period of 99 years.