Mundra Port to house India's first car export terminal
India’s first dedicated car export terminal will come up at Mundra Port in Gujarat. Japanese auto giant Suzuki has joined hands with the Adani group-owned Mundra Port and Special Economic Zone (MPSEZ) to ramp up its car exports from India.
Maruti Suzuki India, the Indian subsidiary of the Japanese giant, which currently exports close to 40,000 cars from India mostly through Jawaharlal Nehru Port at Nhava Sheva, is keen on increasing exports five-fold to 2,00,000 in two years. A bulk of it will be handled through Mundra.
Details of the deal are being worked out, sources said. When contacted by ET, Rajeeva Sinha, director, MPSEZ, confirmed the development.
“Our plan is to create a mega car terminal that could be used as a multi-user facility in future. We will provide 50 acres of land for car storage, and cars will be remotely guided into car carriers on berth, without the help of drivers,” said Mr Sinha.
Exports of cars will begin soon from one of the existing berths as a temporary arrangement, and they will eventually come up with a dedicated car terminal at the port, with all required facilities, added Mr Sinha.
A few months ago, a high-level team from Maruti Suzuki India, led by senior joint managing director Tsuneo Kobayashi, had visited Mundra Port in Gujarat, to assess the possibilities. Mundra, the deep-water port, which is lying in close proximity to the production centres near Delhi like Gurgaon and Manesar, has turned out to be the best option.
Currently, Maruti Suzuki is one of the top Indian exporters of cars and has plans to step up exports over the next few years. Its Maruti 800, Alto and Swift brands are big hits in South African and European markets.
Earlier, Maruti Suzuki India and Nissan Motor Company had jointly looked at setting up a greenfield port facility in Gujarat which will have an exclusive car terminal, along with other infrastructure such as sheds for cars and a minor paint shop for touch-up jobs. However, the plan fell out of favour because of its huge capex and a longer break-even point.
Shipping secretary AK Mahapatra had told ET that Maruti and Nissan already visited non-major and major ports of Gujarat. “The dedicated port will be able to handle 4,00,000 cars annually, but the two companies may have to incur capital expenditure of Rs 3,000 crore,” he said. “The initial expenses and continuous dredging, along with the maintenance of the port premises, lead to huge capital expenditure, making the whole project financially unviable,” said industry officials.
There is no dedicated car terminal in India, despite the fact that the country is growing into a global manufacturing hub for mini cars, with foreign auto giants scrambling for fresh capacities in the country.
Currently, Mumbai and Chennai are the only two major ports that handle auto exports, and pure car carriers (PCCs), operated by NYK, Mitsui OSK Lines (MOL) and K-Line, regularly call at these ports. While Tata Motors and Maruti Suzuki, Ashok Leyland and Eicher Motors depend on Mumbai facilities, owing to the proximity to their production centres, Hyundai and Ford, thanks to their south Indian manufacturing facilities, export cars through Chennai Port. With India transforming itself into a major production hub of small cars, auto manufacturers are scurrying for dedicated port facilities. Apart from Suzuki and Nissan, Mitsubishi Motors is another global major which is searching for port facilities in the country. Its officials had visited Vansi Borsi Port and Maroli Port in Gujarat for setting up another exclusive car handling terminal.
Mitsubishi has also been exploring options for setting up exclusive terminals at existing ports such as Mundra, Pipavav, Okha or Kandla. Its plan is the proposed terminal could be linked to the north-south dedicated rail freight corridor, to facilitate movement of cars by the rail.
Maruti Suzuki India, the Indian subsidiary of the Japanese giant, which currently exports close to 40,000 cars from India mostly through Jawaharlal Nehru Port at Nhava Sheva, is keen on increasing exports five-fold to 2,00,000 in two years. A bulk of it will be handled through Mundra.
Details of the deal are being worked out, sources said. When contacted by ET, Rajeeva Sinha, director, MPSEZ, confirmed the development.
“Our plan is to create a mega car terminal that could be used as a multi-user facility in future. We will provide 50 acres of land for car storage, and cars will be remotely guided into car carriers on berth, without the help of drivers,” said Mr Sinha.
Exports of cars will begin soon from one of the existing berths as a temporary arrangement, and they will eventually come up with a dedicated car terminal at the port, with all required facilities, added Mr Sinha.
A few months ago, a high-level team from Maruti Suzuki India, led by senior joint managing director Tsuneo Kobayashi, had visited Mundra Port in Gujarat, to assess the possibilities. Mundra, the deep-water port, which is lying in close proximity to the production centres near Delhi like Gurgaon and Manesar, has turned out to be the best option.
Currently, Maruti Suzuki is one of the top Indian exporters of cars and has plans to step up exports over the next few years. Its Maruti 800, Alto and Swift brands are big hits in South African and European markets.
Earlier, Maruti Suzuki India and Nissan Motor Company had jointly looked at setting up a greenfield port facility in Gujarat which will have an exclusive car terminal, along with other infrastructure such as sheds for cars and a minor paint shop for touch-up jobs. However, the plan fell out of favour because of its huge capex and a longer break-even point.
Shipping secretary AK Mahapatra had told ET that Maruti and Nissan already visited non-major and major ports of Gujarat. “The dedicated port will be able to handle 4,00,000 cars annually, but the two companies may have to incur capital expenditure of Rs 3,000 crore,” he said. “The initial expenses and continuous dredging, along with the maintenance of the port premises, lead to huge capital expenditure, making the whole project financially unviable,” said industry officials.
There is no dedicated car terminal in India, despite the fact that the country is growing into a global manufacturing hub for mini cars, with foreign auto giants scrambling for fresh capacities in the country.
Currently, Mumbai and Chennai are the only two major ports that handle auto exports, and pure car carriers (PCCs), operated by NYK, Mitsui OSK Lines (MOL) and K-Line, regularly call at these ports. While Tata Motors and Maruti Suzuki, Ashok Leyland and Eicher Motors depend on Mumbai facilities, owing to the proximity to their production centres, Hyundai and Ford, thanks to their south Indian manufacturing facilities, export cars through Chennai Port. With India transforming itself into a major production hub of small cars, auto manufacturers are scurrying for dedicated port facilities. Apart from Suzuki and Nissan, Mitsubishi Motors is another global major which is searching for port facilities in the country. Its officials had visited Vansi Borsi Port and Maroli Port in Gujarat for setting up another exclusive car handling terminal.
Mitsubishi has also been exploring options for setting up exclusive terminals at existing ports such as Mundra, Pipavav, Okha or Kandla. Its plan is the proposed terminal could be linked to the north-south dedicated rail freight corridor, to facilitate movement of cars by the rail.