Port firm DP World to pump in $2 bn

Global container terminal operator DP World plans to invest about $2 billion in Indian operations, top company officials said here today. DP World operates five container terminals in India. “Port investment is crucial for growth of industries,” DP World senior vice president and MD Ganesh Raj said.

Pointing out the significance of investment in ports, Raj says, “Before we took over the Chennai container terminal, it was witnessing a growth rate of 9 per cent per annum. But now it is clocking 22-23 per cent,” he said.

Besides Chennai, the company handles container terminals at Kochi, Mundhra, JNPT and Vishakapatnam. The terminals at Kochi and Vishakapatnam are DP World’s while Mundhra, JNPT and Chennai’s container terminal came under the company umbrella after its acquisition of P&O last year.

Container terminal operators say that the tariff system needs to be changed. They say that authorities should use the “market plus method” for fixing tariffs rather than the “cost-plus method” they presently employ.