Deendayal Port Authority and DP World have signed a concession agreement for a Mega-Container Terminal at Tuna Tekra, near the existing Deendayal Port in Kandla, Gujarat. The agreement was signed in the presence of Union Minister for Ports, Shipping & Waterways Sarbananda Sonowal.
About the project
The project will see the construction of a Mega-Container Terminal at Tune-Tekra at a cost of Rs 4,243.64 crore through a Public Private Partnership (PPP). Once completed, the terminal will stand with an annual capacity of 2.19 million TEUs. It will also have a 1,100-metre berth which would be capable of handling next-generation vessels carrying over 18,000 TEUs.
This state-of-the-art Container Terminal will cater to future trade demand from Northern, Western and Central India. This will help connect the regions to global markets.
Transforming Kutch, creating jobs
This Container Terminal might push the economic landscape of Kutch in the future. It is expected to create several ancillary services like warehousing, among other things, and also lead to the creation of hundreds of direct and indirect employment opportunities.
The terminal will be in compliance with the green port guidelines and ensure sustainability in port operations. It strives to adopt best practices of port environment management in order to contribute towards the Government of India’s long-term goals for sustainability.
The concession agreement is part of Sonowal’s aim of identifying investment opportunities of over 10 lakh crore in the Indian Maritime Sector for the upcoming Global Maritime Summit 2023. This summit will be held at Bharat Mandapam, Pragati Maidan, New Delhi from October 17-19 this year. Organised by MoPSW, the summit will be a home to showcasing best practices globally, foster investment partnerships and chart a new and bright course for our collective future. The Global Maritime India Summit will be giving a stage to over 60 countries, exhibitors and investors from the maritime sector.
Talking about the event, Sonowal said, “This project is aligned with our Hon’ble Prime Minister’s Amrit Kaal Vision 2047 and would quadruple port handling capacity and develop multimodal logistics infrastructure to promote economic growth.” He added that it will add operational efficiency to the Deendayal Port by reducing congestion at the Kandla creek and enhancing the ability to handle deep draft vessels, among other things.