JSW Infrastructure, the ports business of Sajjan Jindal-led JSW Group, on Thursday said it won a contract to develop Keni Port in Karnataka with an estimated cost of Rs 4,119 crore. The greenfield port, one of the two new ports planned by the state government, would be developed with an initial cargo-handling capacity of 30 million tonne per annum (MTPA).
Initially, four companies —JSW Infrastructure, Adani Ports and SEZ (APSEZ), Navayuga Engineering and Vishwa Samudra — had evinced interest in building the port on a public-private partnership model. However, only two companies — APSEZ and JSW Infrastructure — were qualified to bid, sources close to the development said.
“Once the concession agreement is signed, we will start working to develop the Keni Port as an integral part of the State’s maritime infrastructure and trade gateway. Through the development of this greenfield port, we are partnering with the Karnataka government’s mission to meet the logistics demand of a rapidly growing state and the region’s economy,” JSW Infrastructure joint MD and CEO Arun Maheshwari said.
The proposed Keni Port would have modern environment-friendly mechanised facilities for handling of cape-size vessels. The all-weather commercial port would handle all types of cargoes on the west coast of north Karnataka region and serve industries across Bellary, Hosapete, Hubballi, Kalaburagi and South Maharashtra, it said.
Keni Port is located strategically between two operational major Ports — Mormugao Port in the north and New Mangalore Port in the south — with rail connectivity to the existing Konkan line to north of the Ankola Station. The commodities expected to be shipped through the port includes coal, coking coal, steel, cement, iron ore, limestone, dolomite and bauxite.
As per the Karnataka Maritime Perspective Plan, the state has a potential of 44 MTPA of cargo, which is expected to rise 117 MTPA by 2035.
In November, Maheshwari had told FE in an interview that JSW Infrastructure was looking to hike capacity utilisation across all its ports to about 80-85% from the present 64% in the coming years, banking on a rise in cargo movement in the country. The firm was also planning to nearly double total cargo handling capacity to 300 MTPA.
As of FY23-end, JSW Infrastructure — which had been in operations since 2004 — has a total cargo handling capacity of 158.4 million tonne across nine ports and terminals in eastern and western coasts.