JSW Infra wins bid to develop Rs 4,119 crore port in Karnataka

New Delhi: JSW Infrastructure, November 16, said it won an order worth Rs 4,119 crore for the development of Keni greenfield port in Karnataka.  The estimated cost of the project is Rs 4,119 crore with an initial capacity of 30 million tonne per annum (MTPA), the company said in a press release.

The initial capacity of the all-weather, deep-water greenfield port is 30 million tonnes per annum (MTPA), the company said in a release.

JSW Infrastructure, Adani Ports, Navayuga Engineering and Vishwa Samudra were the four companies that showed interest during the pre-bid stage while bids were submitted by Adani Ports and JSW.

"We will start working to develop the Keni Port as an integral part of the State’s maritime infrastructure & trade gateway. Once developed, the Keni port is expected to crucially address the rising import and export trade momentum of the region," said Arun Maheshwari, company’s managing director and chief executive officer.  

The project was awarded by the Karnataka Maritime Board. 

JSW Infrastructure currently operates a total of nine state port concessions on the west and east coasts of India with an overall capacity of close to 153 MTPA, which it aims to double (300 MTPA) by 2030, the ports arm of Sajjan Jindal-led JSW Group said in the statement. 

As per the Karnataka Maritime Perspective Plan, the state has a hinterland potential of 44 MTPA of cargo which is expected to increase to 117 MTPA by 2035, providing ample opportunities for more ports and port infrastructure to come up. The port at Keni is located between two major ports - Mormugao in the north and New Mangalore Port in the south. The hinterland provides cargo of coal and coke that are used for steel, cement and power plants. Rail connectivity to the port will be on the southern side, connected with the existing Konkan line. The proposed rail connection will have a length of 8 km.

The Keni port will be equipped to handle cape-size vessels -- bulk carriers that are largely used for the transport of coal, ores, and other commodity raw materials, the company said adding that it will be built to serve the industries in the area covering Bellary, Hosapete, Hubballi, Kalaburagi and South Maharashtra. 

The contract is JSW Infrastructure's first major one since it debuted on the stock market on October 3.