Ahmedabad (Gujarat) [India], June 7 (ANI): Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone Limited (APSEZ) has received the letter of intent (LOI) for the operation and maintenance (O&M) of the container facility at the Netaji Subhas Dock at the Syama Prasad Mookerjee Port in Kolkata.
India’s largest port developer-cum-operator, APSEZ is awarded the O&M contract for five years. With this, APSEZ establishes its presence at the largest container handling facility on India’s east coast
APSEZ’s presence at the port is likely to help drive synergies with its trans-shipment hubs at Colombo and Vizhinjam.
APSEZ won the five-year O&M contract through a competitive bidding process, which mandates the successful bidder to deploy cargo handling equipment within seven months from the letter of acceptance (LOA).
Ashwani Gupta, Whole-Time Director and CEO, APSEZ, said, “The award of the O&M contract for container handling facilities at Netaji Subhas Dock to APSEZ underlines our commitment to develop ports and logistics infrastructure across the country and the potential we see in West Bengal. We will bring our experience of over two decades of efficiently managing various container terminals within India and outside, benefiting customers and the people of the state.”
Netaji Subhas Dock is the largest container terminal on the eastern coast of India. It handled 0.63 million TEUs in FY2023-24. The Dock severs a vast hinterland encompassing West Bengal, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand, Assam, the north-eastern hill states in addition to the landlocked neighbouring countries of Nepal and Bhutan.
The Kolkata port is the nominated port for the Indo-Bangladesh Protocol on Inland Water Transit and Trade route.
Netaji Subhas Dock has regular liner service calls from the hub ports of Singapore, Port Kelang and Colombo. The presence of APSEZ at the dock is likely to improve connectivity between the terminal and its container ports, particularly with the trans-shipment hubs at Vizhinjam and Colombo that are targeted for commissioning during the year. (ANI)