Jawaharlal Nehru Port Authority (JNPA), India’s best performing Port, signed a concession agreement with JM Baxi Ports and Logistics Ltd. on 15th November 2022, to Upgrade, Equip and O&M of Shallow Water Berth (SWB) and Coastal Berth (CB) Terminals through PPP mode. JNPA is India’s first 100% Landlord Major Port. The SWB and CB terminals will be upgraded and managed by an SPV named “Nhava Sheva Distribution Terminal Private Limited” formed by J M Baxi group.
The agreement was signed in the presence of Shri Sanjay Sethi, IAS, Chairman, JNPA, Shri Unmesh Sharad Wagh, IRS, Dy. Chairman, JNPA, Shri Dhruv Krishna Kotak, MD, J M Baxi Group and all the HODs of JNPA.
Speaking at the occasion Shri Sanjay Sethi, IAS, Chairman, JNPA said, “SWB and CB will now be a PPP terminal, the successful bidder being J M Baxi group. The concessionaire has to Upgrade, equip, Operate, maintain and transfer this terminal at the end of the Concession period of 30 years. The terminal will be developed in one single phase of 3 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, with the Authority doing common port business development.”
The 4 million metric tonnes per annum (MMTA) capacity shallow water berth (SWB) has a length of 445 meters 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. 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. At a time when the GoI is focusing on increasing the modal share of coastal cargo, and industries looking at greener options, this new infrastructure can play a crucial role.
JNPA has developed the coastal berth with a vision to provide a dedicated berth for coastal cargo in order to boost coastal shipping. The project was partly funded under the ‘Sagarmala’ program of the Ministry of Ports, Shipping, and Waterways to provide a boost to coastal cargo movement. The coastal berth will aid the smooth and faster coastal movement of cargo through a green channel and help increase the share of coastal shipping in the domestic cargo movement and as well as facilitate the export-import (EXIM) community. The coastal berth has the capacity to handle about 2.8 million metric tonnes of coastal cargo per annum (MMTA) like steel, cement, container, fertilizer, food grains 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 conveying and 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.
