Essar group, the Ruias-led oil-steel-logistics conglomerate, will bid for the proposed deep sea port in West Bengal and might rope in a foreign partner for the same. The group is now restructuring its logistics business and as an outcome of this will give more thrust on port development arena, sources said.
West Bengal government is likely to float a global tender soon for selecting a developer for the port. The state industry secretary Sabyasachi Sen earlier said that the government has already got the go-ahead for initiating a tender process from the Prime Minister's Office.
When contacted, the managing director of Essar Shipping Ltd (ESL), Sanjay Mehta, admitted that the group is keen to set up a deep sea port on the east coast. "We have expertise in port business and have interest in deep sea port in West Bengal," he said. At present, the group operates one of the biggest bulk terminals in the country in Vadinar which has a capacity of 7 MT of cargo.
However, he does not elaborate on the deep sea port plan. But sources said that Essar Shipping, which is all set to be rechristened as Essar Ports & Logistics Ltd (EPLL), has started assessing the viability of deep sea port in Bengal.
"Lot of big steel projects are in the offing in Bengal. This includes Jindal, Videocon, Adhunik and Abhijit group. We are expecting a huge container traffic as all of them would require to import iron ore and coal. Now our focus is on handling cargo from oil, steel and power industry," said sources.
ESL has lined up mega investment plans for both brownfield and greenfield expansion. The projects will be executed by ESL subsidiary Essar Ports & Terminals (EPTL) and the subsidiaries of EPTL. After the restructuring, EPTL will have three subsidiaries — Essar Bulk Terminal Ltd (EBTL), Vadinar Oil Terminal Ltd and EBTL Salaya.
"The company is expecting a major demand from the group itself. Essar Steel is expanding capacity to 21 million tonne from 9 million tonne, Essar Energy and Essar Power are also expanding," added sources. The company is planning to set up a bulk terminal at Vadinar by 2009 which will have handling capacity of 30 MT of steel.
West Bengal government is likely to float a global tender soon for selecting a developer for the port. The state industry secretary Sabyasachi Sen earlier said that the government has already got the go-ahead for initiating a tender process from the Prime Minister's Office.
When contacted, the managing director of Essar Shipping Ltd (ESL), Sanjay Mehta, admitted that the group is keen to set up a deep sea port on the east coast. "We have expertise in port business and have interest in deep sea port in West Bengal," he said. At present, the group operates one of the biggest bulk terminals in the country in Vadinar which has a capacity of 7 MT of cargo.
However, he does not elaborate on the deep sea port plan. But sources said that Essar Shipping, which is all set to be rechristened as Essar Ports & Logistics Ltd (EPLL), has started assessing the viability of deep sea port in Bengal.
"Lot of big steel projects are in the offing in Bengal. This includes Jindal, Videocon, Adhunik and Abhijit group. We are expecting a huge container traffic as all of them would require to import iron ore and coal. Now our focus is on handling cargo from oil, steel and power industry," said sources.
ESL has lined up mega investment plans for both brownfield and greenfield expansion. The projects will be executed by ESL subsidiary Essar Ports & Terminals (EPTL) and the subsidiaries of EPTL. After the restructuring, EPTL will have three subsidiaries — Essar Bulk Terminal Ltd (EBTL), Vadinar Oil Terminal Ltd and EBTL Salaya.
"The company is expecting a major demand from the group itself. Essar Steel is expanding capacity to 21 million tonne from 9 million tonne, Essar Energy and Essar Power are also expanding," added sources. The company is planning to set up a bulk terminal at Vadinar by 2009 which will have handling capacity of 30 MT of steel.