Jawaharlal Nehru port inks pact with JM Baxi for handing shallow water berth, coastal berth terminals

The Jawaharlal Nehru port is one of the major ports owned by the Shipping Ministry.

Sethi further said that the concessionaire has to upgrade, equip, operate, maintain and transfer the terminals at the end of the concession period of 30 years. The terminals will be developed in one single phase of three years.

“JNPA will continue to develop and provide supporting infrastructure facilities. Many of the major global ports are today landlord facilities, whose key responsibilities include marketing. JNPA will now be taking up marketing in a more streamlined manner.”

The 4 million metric tonnes per annum (MMTA) capacity shallow water berth (SWB) has a length of 445 metres of which 125 m has been developed as Ro-Ro Terminal.

The SWB can accommodate vessels up to 30,000 DT making it the most preferred facility for coastal as well as foreign cargo. The SWB is a multi-cargo terminal capable of handling container, cement, general cargo, and liquid cargo vessels both foreign and coastal.

The USP of this multi-purpose clean cargo terminal is the ability to connect coastal containers through Ro-Ro ships, revolutionizing the water-based logistics eco-system of Nhava Sheva making it the most connected hub in the country. This opens up massive last-mile solutions and broadens access to the hinterland. The new infrastructure can play a crucial role at a time when the central government is focusing on increasing the modal share of coastal cargo and industries looking at greener options.

The JNPA has developed the coastal berth to provide a dedicated berth for coastal cargo. The project was partly funded under the ‘Sagarmala’ programme of the Ministry of Ports, Shipping, and Waterways to boost coastal cargo movement. The coastal berth will aid smooth and faster cargo movement through a green channel and help increase the share of coastal shipping in the domestic cargo movement and facilitate the export-import (EXIM) community.

It has the capacity to handle about 2.8 million metric tonnes of coastal cargo per annum (MMTA) like steel, cement, container, fertilizer, foodgrains, and a few other clean cargoes. The berth has a backup area of 9 hectares for cargo storage and handling.

As part of the project, J M Baxi will provide an automated mechanized cement handling system and connected silos for the storage of cement, which will enable faster turnaround of vessels. The coastal berth, which was completed in November 2020, aims to provide better infrastructure for coastal shipping and decongest rail and road networks, ensuring cost-competitive and effective multi-modal transportation solutions.