The Philippines port operator International Container Terminal Services Inc. (ICTSI) will open a new container terminal by January 2012 at Kattupalli near Ennore in Tamil Nadu, where Larsen and Toubro Ltd (L&T) is building a shipyard at a cost of '3,375 crore, IIFL reports.
ICTSI and L&T Shipbuilding Ltd "have signed a container port operation agreement for the management and operations of the Kattupalli container terminal in Tamil Nadu," K. Venkatesh, senior vice-president of L&T, said by phone from Chennai. He is also chief executive of L&T Infrastructure Development Projects Ltd. L&T Shipbuilding is a venture between L&T with 97% stake and Tamil Nadu Industrial Development Corp. holding the remaining equity. Kattupalli terminal is ICTSI's first venture in India.
The terminal will have two 350m berths and a terminal area of around 20 hectare with a capacity to load 1.2 million standard containers in its first phase of development. In the second phase, its capacity can be increased to handle 1.8 million standard containers, Venkatesh said. Manila-based ICTSI is a port manager involved in operations and development of 23 marine terminals and port projects in 17 countries. L&T, India's biggest engineering and construction firm, adopted the operation and maintenance model in selecting ICTSI to run the container terminal at Kattupalli. "We are not a port operator. Hence, we need an operator who can operate the terminal according to certain service level agreements," said Venkatesh. L&T, which is constructing the berth, will also install equipment at the terminal while ICTSI will run the facility for a fee.
Venkatesh declined to disclose the deal terms. By setting up a container handling facility at Kattupalli, L&T is eyeing a potential traffic of 2.5-3 million standard containers a year in the vicinity of Chennai as well as from the proposed Ennore special economic zone adjacent to the site. Container cargo loaded at the 12 Union governmentowned ports in Asia's third-biggest economy grew at an average of 16% a year between 2004 and 2009. The Kattupalli facility will intensify competition for loading containers in and around Chennai. DP World Pvt. Ltd and PSA International Pte Ltd run container terminals at Chennai port. A consortium led by Spanish port operator Grup TCB is developing a terminal with an annual capacity of 1.5 million standard containers at the Union government- owned port in Ennore.
ICTSI and L&T Shipbuilding Ltd "have signed a container port operation agreement for the management and operations of the Kattupalli container terminal in Tamil Nadu," K. Venkatesh, senior vice-president of L&T, said by phone from Chennai. He is also chief executive of L&T Infrastructure Development Projects Ltd. L&T Shipbuilding is a venture between L&T with 97% stake and Tamil Nadu Industrial Development Corp. holding the remaining equity. Kattupalli terminal is ICTSI's first venture in India.
The terminal will have two 350m berths and a terminal area of around 20 hectare with a capacity to load 1.2 million standard containers in its first phase of development. In the second phase, its capacity can be increased to handle 1.8 million standard containers, Venkatesh said. Manila-based ICTSI is a port manager involved in operations and development of 23 marine terminals and port projects in 17 countries. L&T, India's biggest engineering and construction firm, adopted the operation and maintenance model in selecting ICTSI to run the container terminal at Kattupalli. "We are not a port operator. Hence, we need an operator who can operate the terminal according to certain service level agreements," said Venkatesh. L&T, which is constructing the berth, will also install equipment at the terminal while ICTSI will run the facility for a fee.
Venkatesh declined to disclose the deal terms. By setting up a container handling facility at Kattupalli, L&T is eyeing a potential traffic of 2.5-3 million standard containers a year in the vicinity of Chennai as well as from the proposed Ennore special economic zone adjacent to the site. Container cargo loaded at the 12 Union governmentowned ports in Asia's third-biggest economy grew at an average of 16% a year between 2004 and 2009. The Kattupalli facility will intensify competition for loading containers in and around Chennai. DP World Pvt. Ltd and PSA International Pte Ltd run container terminals at Chennai port. A consortium led by Spanish port operator Grup TCB is developing a terminal with an annual capacity of 1.5 million standard containers at the Union government- owned port in Ennore.