CMA CGM & Adani Ports form JV to run Mundra Port's new container terminal

Apr 28, 2017: CMA CGM, Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone (APSEZ), India's leading port infrastructure developer and part of the Adani Group, have signed a joint venture agreement, to operate a new container terminal (CT4) at Mundra Port, for next 15 years with an option to extend it twice for 10 more years.

Rodolphe Saadé, CMA CGM's chief executive officer, said, "We have been present in India for over three decades now. This joint-venture with Adani Ports reinforces our position in one of the world's fastest growing economies and highlights our firm belief in the potential growth of trade between India and the rest of the world."

Karan Adani, CEO, APSEZ, "This strategic partnership with CMA CGM in the Container Terminals business brings significant value to Mundra port. With this new development, Mundra port is perfectly primed to set the bar even higher on the crucial parameters of efficiency, productivity and faster turnaround times for larger vessels, which will directly translate into competitive advantages for our customers. Mundra port continues to be conscious of its environmental responsibilities and has installed world class equipment, which vastly reduces air and noise pollution."

The two partners have completed the CT4 project three months ahead of schedule making Mundra Port the largest container-handling port in the country. CT4 will be the only container terminal on the west coast of India where the world's largest container ships can call.

CT4 has four units of 65 tonnes capacity of Rail Mounted Quay Cranes capable of handling 18,000 TEU vessels and Super Post and Ultra Large Container Vessels and an annual capacity of 1.3 million TEUs.

The terminal spans over 27 hectares, with a 650-meter long quay and a draft of 16.5 meters. The yard equipment will include twelve 41 tonne lift rubber tyred container gantry cranes which will accommodate seven rows of containers and one operational lane.

For CMA CGM, CT4 is its first port investment in India. CMA CGM's investment in Mundra shows how confident the company is about the opportunities in India, where economic growth rate is expected to be one of the fastest among large economies in 2017 according to recent data from the International Monetary Fund. CMA CGM expects trade between India and the world is likely to grow and generate opportunities for exporters and importers.

APSEZ continues to rapidly expand its container terminals footprint across India's coastline and further augments APSEZ's existing three container handling facilities at Mundra, Hazira and Kattupalli, an under construction transhipment hub in Vizinjham in Kerala and two other under construction terminals at Ennore in Tamil Nadu and Dhamra in Odisha. It will allow Adani Ports to fulfill its stated vision of handling 200 million metric tonnes of cargo well before the year 2020.