THE consortium of Singapore's PSA International and India's ABG Group, which runs facilities at the ports of India's Calcutta and Kandla, recently clinched the deal to build a US$1.5 billion container terminal at the Nhava Sheva Port near Mumbai, and intends to double the capacity of the nation's largest port to eight million TEU.

    Said to be the largest foreign direct investment port in India's port sector, the new terminal is one of the key projects for the estimated $3 billion investment to enhance the port facilities for the needs of growth in next 10 years, reported Newark's Journal of Commerce, adding that it is also a solution for the current port congestion problem.

    Severe port's congestion has driven carriers to levy surcharges and divert cargo to Mundra, 500 kilometres north. Nhava Sheva has three container terminals, with an annual throughput of 4.3 million TEU. Volume is expected to reach 11 million TEU by fiscal 2016 and 23 million TEU by 2025.

    According to the deal, the PSA-ABG consortium will offer a 50.8 per cent share of revenue as annual royalty to the landlord port. Forming a venture with Chennai-based Sical Group, PSA also runs a terminal at the south eastern Port of Tuticorin.

    Additionally, the port authority is considering building a fifth terminal and international consulting firms have been invited to bid for preparing the relative master plans.

(source:http://www.shippingonline.cn/news/newsList.asp?classname=News)