MUMBAI: Adani Ports &
SEZ Ltd formed an equal joint venture (JV) with French shipping company CMA CGM to build a container terminal at Mundra in Gujarat, the company said in a statement.
This will be the fourth container terminal at Mundra, with a capacity to handle 1.3 million twenty foot equivalent containers annually. The construction phase will start immediately and will be completed in a 24 months, the statement said.
CMA CGM, the third-largest container shipping line in the world, has 24 offices and 8 direct shipping services in the country. "We are very pleased with this JV partnership that will help put our continued expansion at the Mundra port on an even steeper trajectory.
The strategic value of such a partnership with a major global player like CMA CGM is hugely significant and opens up a whole set of additional opportunities and synergies for both the companies," said Gautam Adani, chairman, Adani Group.
The company said the JV is another major step by APSEZ to continue to rapidly expand its container terminals footprint across India's coastline.
"Apart from receiving regular calls from CMA CGM shipping lines, CMA CGM would bring whole lots of global operational expertise of construction & management of terminal. It may also capitalized on its JV business with Ameya logistics who has Container Freight Station in Mundra," said Abhishek Dhanesha, vice-president at Systematix Capital Services.
The new terminal adds to the company's existing two container handling locations at Mundra and Hazira along with its already announced two container terminals to be constructed at Ennore in Chennai and Dhamra in Odisha.
Source : economictimes.indiatimes.com