Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone Limited (APSEZ), India’s leading port developer and operator, has been awarded 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. The five-year O&M contract was secured by APSEZ through a competitive bidding process. The terms of the contract require the successful bidder to deploy cargo handling equipment within seven months from the date of the Letter of Acceptance (LOA).
Netaji Subhas Dock, the largest container terminal on India’s eastern coast, handled approximately 0.63 million TEUs in FY2023-24. The dock serves a vast hinterland that includes West Bengal, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand, Assam, the northeastern hill states and the landlocked neighbouring countries of Nepal and Bhutan.
The Kolkata port, nominated for the Indo-Bangladesh Protocol on Inland Water Transit and Trade route, receives regular liner service calls from the hub ports of Singapore, Port Kelang and Colombo. APSEZ’s presence at the dock is expected to enhance connectivity between the terminal and its container ports, particularly with the transshipment hubs at Vizhinjam and Colombo slated for commissioning this year.
Ashwani Gupta, Whole-Time Director and CEO of APSEZ, expressed his enthusiasm about the contract. He said, “The award of the O&M contract for container handling facilities at Netaji Subhas Dock to APSEZ underscores our commitment to developing ports and logistics infrastructure across the country and the potential we see in West Bengal. We will leverage our over two decades of experience in efficiently managing various container terminals within India and abroad to benefit customers and the people of the state.”
APSEZ, a part of the globally diversified Adani Group, has evolved from a port company to an Integrated Transport Utility, providing end-to-end solutions from its port gate to the customer gate. It is the largest port developer and operator in India, with 15 strategically located ports and terminals across the country’s west and east coasts. The company is also developing a transshipment port at Colombo, Sri Lanka, operates the Haifa Port in Israel and a container terminal in Dar es Salaam Port, Tanzania. APSEZ aims to be the world’s largest ports and logistics platform in the next decade and has committed to becoming carbon neutral by 2025.
Also Read: BJP, RSS Hold Talks on Govt Formation Strategy Ahead of Swearing-In Ceremony
