Essar Ports has secured a 30-year concession to develop an 18.33-million-tonne-per-year multipurpose cargo terminal at Tuna Tekra in Gujarat, with total project investment estimated at ₹2,276 crore.
Mumbai, October 22 — Essar Ports Ltd has won a 30-year concession from the Deendayal Port Authority to develop a major multipurpose cargo terminal at Tuna Tekra in Gujarat.
The project will have a handling capacity of 18.33 million tonnes per annum and is expected to help reduce congestion at one of India’s key western coast gateways.
The total estimated project cost is ₹2,276.06 crore, of which Essar Ports will invest ₹1,552.57 crore, while the Deendayal Port Authority will invest ₹723.49 crore.
The terminal will be developed under a build-operate-transfer model through a public-private partnership.
Commercial operations are expected to begin by 2031.
Essar Ports emerged as the highest bidder through a global competitive bidding process, offering a royalty of ₹61 per tonne to the port authority.
The new terminal will be located east of the mega container terminal being developed by DP World at Tuna Tekra.
It will include four berths, each 300 metres long, providing a combined berth length of 1,200 metres.
The facility will be capable of handling Cape-size vessels of up to 170,000 deadweight tonnes and will support a draft of up to 18 metres.
Deendayal Port Authority will provide common infrastructure such as dredging of the access channel, berth pockets, turning circles and a common approach road.
Essar Ports will build and operate the terminal in line with environmental requirements and the Green Port Policy.
The additional capacity is expected to ease pressure on existing dry-cargo berths at Deendayal Port, where berth occupancy is currently above 90%, compared with an indicated optimal level of around 70%.
The terminal is also expected to improve cargo-handling efficiency and allow larger vessels to call at the port, potentially reducing shipping and logistics costs.
Improved road and rail connectivity should help speed up cargo evacuation to industrial and consumption centres in Gujarat and the wider hinterland.
For Essar Ports, the project marks a major step in rebuilding and expanding its port infrastructure business.
The company currently has around 60 million tonnes per annum of operational port capacity across India, Indonesia and the UK.
