NEW DELHI: Adani PortsNSE -0.15 % and Special Economic Zone Wednesday said it has concluded import and delivery of fifty US made GE locomotives to Indian Railways.
All 50 locomotives were manufactured by GE Electromotive Division in the US and imported to Mundra port.
"Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone Ltd (APSEZ) successfully concluded the import and dispatch of 50 General Electric Transportation (GE) locomotives from Mundra port for the Indian Railways with full customer satisfaction and ‘zero' incident. All 50 locomotives were manufactured by GE Electromotive Division in the US and imported at Mundra port for the Indian Railways, a first for Indian shopping and logistics," the company said in a statement.
The final locomotive was handed over to the Indian Railways at the Roza Loco Shed (UP) on November 23, 2018.
The commissioning of the locomotives was completed in the period between October 2017 and November 2018, which is a landmark record for the logistics and ports sector.
The statement said Mundra port has the unique distinction of handling consignments critical for development and defence of the nation.
In a short span of time, the port has played an instrumental role in logistics of wagons for various Metro projects pan-India, mining dump truck of 240 MT capacity and heavy duty air-crane (helicopter), it said.
The port is also set to receive the first batch of Boeing Chinook helicopters, which is purported to give a decisive edge to India's defence forces in war like scenario and also during times of humanitarian crisis, as per sources.
APSEZ is India's largest private multi-port operator and a part of the Adani Group, an integrated infrastructure corporation.
Since 1962, after the import of WDM2 ALCO locomotives for the Indian Railways, the current import of GE locomotives is the biggest import consignment in India.
The first GE locomotive was imported to Mundra and handled by Adani Port in October 2017.
"Efficiency in logistical operations is given an utmost priority at Adani Ports. Therefore, while handling the logistical operations for the Indian Railways and GE, we made sure the transportation of cargo from the vessel to its destination is seamless and without any incident," APSEZ Chief Operating Officer Avinash Rai said
Mundra Port is the second largest port in India in handling container cargo. In 2014 – 15, Mundra port handled 1.75 million TEUs and has the installed terminal capacity to handle 2.3 Million TEUs per annunm.
Adani Ports operates two terminals at Mundra - Adani Mundra Container Terminal (AMCT), which started operations in 2007, and Adani International Container Terminal (AICTPL), which was operationalised in 2013. Jointly both terminals handle 26 services, connecting India to destinations across the world.
APSEZ's 10 strategically located ports and terminals — Mundra, Dahej, Kandla and Hazira in Gujarat, Dhamra in Odisha, Mormugao in Goa, Visakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh, and Kattupalli and Ennore in Chennai — represent 24 per cent of the country's total port capacity, handling vast amounts of cargo from both coastal areas and the vast hinterland.
The company is also developing a transhipment port at Vizhinjam, Kerala.
Source: economictimes.indiatimes.com