SMP inks pacts valued at Rs 25K cr with 35 firms

Kolkata: Syama Prasad Mookherjee Port (SMP) — the erstwhile Kolkata Port Trust — on Thursday signed 35 MoUs with leading industry players and partners, valued at Rs 25,000 crore, for development of the port. This was announced by SMP chairman Vinit Kumar on Thursday, ahead of the second edition of the three-day Maritime India Summit 2021 to be held in virtual mode from March 2 to 4. The event will be inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The international event will be graced by representatives from 39 countries. It will showcase 400 projects in the shipping sector with investments worth Rs 1.24 lakh crore.

Kumar said they would showcase investment opportunities for potential investors and partners about the various projects and plans in the pipeline. "The showcased opportunities will focus on port infrastructure development like berth mechanisation, modernisation of sheds and warehouses, port led industrialisation to attract industrial units in the chemical, pharmaceuticals, automotive, electronics and other sectors, multimodal logistic hub with centralised multi level warehouses, logistics parks, riverfront and cruise development, etc," he added.

SMP signed an MoU with SFL Logistics for developing a logistics park at Dankuni so that the former can reap benefits of the 1839 km-long Eastern Dedicated Freight Corridor. The bulk cargo from the north usually goes to the west with lack of storage facilities in the state. With the terminal handling facility at Dankuni, the cargo from seven states can be brought in a hassle-free manner through the Eastern Dedicated Freight Corridor till Dankuni and then transported to SMP via rail," said a senior official of SMP.

A few days back, SMP had signed a MoU with the Bengal Concession Private Ltd- a subsidiary of Hiranandani group of companies — for building a jetty based LNG terminal at Kukrahati in East Midnapore at a cost of Rs 3,900 crore.