JNPT net surplus up to `866 crore in FY17

Country's largest container port JNPT on Thursday reported a 20 per cent increase in its net surplus after tax for financial year 2016-17 at Rs 866.02 crore and announced investments of Rs 16,000 crore over next few years.

"Our net surplus after tax grew because of expenditure management measures. We were also able to post a 19.45 per cent growth in the net surplus before tax at Rs 1,303.89 crore," its chairman Anil Diggikar told reporters here.

The port, which handled 4.5 million standard container units of cargo during the fiscal which makes it the 32nd biggest in the world, saw a marginal increase in operating income at Rs 1,677.90 crore.

The operating expenditures grew 13.76 per cent to Rs 788.49 crore.

Of the three terminals, one is operated by the port itself while two are by private partners. JNPCT, the state-run terminal, registered a 7.33 per cent growth in cargo as against 4 per cent for private operators in the country.

The port's deputy chairman Neeraj Bansal said the port is in various stages of undertaking works entailing an investment of over Rs 16,000 crore.

This includes a Rs 3,000 crore six laning of a highway to the port, the Rs 8,000-crore fourth terminal and a Rs 2,000 crore dredging to increase the channel's draft to 15 metres.

Diggikar said at present, the port is in talks with the Exim Bank and Singaporean lender DBS for arranging finance for the dredging project slated to start soon. JNPT will continue to use the successfully tested external commercial borrowing route where the interest rates are a fraction of domestic borrowing, Bansal said.