JNPT HITS 40 PER CENT GROWTH AND CONSIDERS ACQUISITIONS

Commenting on the performance in the period Sanjay Sethi, IAS, Chairman, JNPT, additionally noted that pilot container train services had commenced which formed part of an initiative to move containers into and out of the port via doublestack services. Rail traffic in the period is reported as accounting for 18 per cent of volume.

JNPT has stated publicly that it intends to double its profits and against this background it is considering the acquisition of three ports in Maharashtra – Dighi which is an operational port and Vijaydurg and Revas which are as yet only undeveloped concessions held by corporations.

Dighi Port has financial problems – it owes RS 1600 Crore to a consortium of banks – and has been facing insolvency action in the courts.

Vijaydurg Port is the proposed home for the mega-refinery at Nanar, to be built by state-run oil marketing companies.

Revas Port, where the concession is held by Reliance Industries, is identified as a problem and it is said to require a solution to be found in conjunction with the Maharashtra government.

Meanwhile JNPT continues to progress the privatisation of the state-run container terminal at JNPT with strong interest in this reported. Twelve potential bidders have lined up comprising a mix of independent terminal operators and shipping line affiliated terminal operators. A number of the bidders already have operations in India and overall it promises to be an interesting task to secure a bid which adds to the competitive mix.