A British private-equity investor is looking to invest more in Indian ports as the country's freight and traffic exceeds capacity, reports said.
London-based 3i Group Plc, which already has a $1.2 billion infrastructure fund for India, has placed a combined $211 million in Krishnapatnam Port Co on India's eastern coast and Mundra Port & Special Economic Zone in the north-west.
Traffic at the two areas is forecast by the government to almost double to 1 billion tonnes by March 2012.
Up to 95% of India's global trade is served by sea and the ports require $20 billion in the next five years, according to India's Planning Commission.
''India is amazingly short on port capacity,'' Anil Ahuja, managing director of 3i's India business and co-head of 3i Asia, was quoted saying.
3i invested $50 million in Mundra in the north-west state of Gujarat before India's largest private cargo terminal sold shares in an initial public offering in November 2007.
In February this year, 3i invested $161 million in Krishnapatnam. The port, still being developed on a 12-kilometre quay in southern Andhra Pradesh state, will be among India's largest, Ahuja said.
''The growth is quite steady and is almost predictable,'' he said. ''We've done two ports and our experience in both has been very good.''
India's 12 major ports handled 530.4 million tonnes in the year ended March 31, 2009, up 2% from a year ago, according to the Indian Ports Association.
London-based 3i Group Plc, which already has a $1.2 billion infrastructure fund for India, has placed a combined $211 million in Krishnapatnam Port Co on India's eastern coast and Mundra Port & Special Economic Zone in the north-west.
Traffic at the two areas is forecast by the government to almost double to 1 billion tonnes by March 2012.
Up to 95% of India's global trade is served by sea and the ports require $20 billion in the next five years, according to India's Planning Commission.
''India is amazingly short on port capacity,'' Anil Ahuja, managing director of 3i's India business and co-head of 3i Asia, was quoted saying.
3i invested $50 million in Mundra in the north-west state of Gujarat before India's largest private cargo terminal sold shares in an initial public offering in November 2007.
In February this year, 3i invested $161 million in Krishnapatnam. The port, still being developed on a 12-kilometre quay in southern Andhra Pradesh state, will be among India's largest, Ahuja said.
''The growth is quite steady and is almost predictable,'' he said. ''We've done two ports and our experience in both has been very good.''
India's 12 major ports handled 530.4 million tonnes in the year ended March 31, 2009, up 2% from a year ago, according to the Indian Ports Association.