Adani Ports inks pact with Kolkata Port to enhance Haldia Dock's capacity

KOLKATA: The concession agreement between Haldia Dock Complex, SMP (Syama Prasad Mookerjee Port), Kolkata and M/s. Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone Ltd. (APSEZ) regarding mechanization of berth number 2 of Haldia on Design, Build, Finance, Operate and Transfer (DBFOT) basis was signed on Thursday.

"The project will help increase the cargo handling capacity and also fast evacuation of cargo at Haldia Port. The cargo will be handled in environment friendly manner and shall lower the cost of handling by Port Users at Haldia," a senior official of SMP said.

This is the maiden step of APSEZ to enter the region through competitive bidding at Haldia Dock Complex (HDC).

The project involves an investment of Rs 298.26 crore to handle 3.744 MT of dry bulk cargo per annum. The project is for handling dry bulk cargo by the way of unloading from vessel by Mobile Harbor Crane/unloader, conveying through conveyor system, storage at yard by stacker cum reclaimer and loading into wagons through mechanized silo loading system. APSEZ has emerged as the highest bidder by quoting a royalty of Rs 75.07/MT. The concession period would be of 30 years and the operation at the Berth is expected to commence from September, 2025.

This shall lead to direct and indirect employment opportunities with revenue generation to the tune of Rs. 22.5 crores per annum for Haldia Dock Complex

Vinit Kumar, Chairman, SMP Kolkata and Subrat Tripathy, CEO, Ports, APSEZ Ltd attended the event of the concession Agreement that was signed by A. K. Mehera, Deputy Chairman (Haldia), SMP, Kolkata and Sudip Dasgupta, COO, Dhamra Port.

The signing of concession agreement marks another step towards the survival and growth strategies of HDC when it comes to handling of higher volume of cargo just after the Letter of Award for creation of additional berth at Shalukkhali was issued on August 18.