BENGALURU: The Karnataka Maritime Board issued the Letter of Award (LOA) to JSW Infrastructure to develop Keni Port in Uttara Kannada district at a cost of Rs 4,119 crore.
In a statement issued on Thursday, JSW Infrastructure said it has emerged as the winning bidder for the development of the port on a PPP basis. “As per the RFP (request for proposal) document, the estimated cost of the project is Rs 4,119 crore with an initial capacity of 30 MTPA,” the company said.
Strategically located between two operational major ports - Mormugao Port in the north and New Mangalore Port in the south - the proposed Keni Port’s hinterland is primarily of coal and coke cargo which is being utilized for steel, cement, and power plants.
“It is also further supported by iron ore, limestone, dolomite handling, and export of finished steel products. Rail connectivity to the Keni Port is proposed to be on the southern side and will be connected with the existing Konkan Line to the north of Ankola station. The proposed railway alignment will be developed with a total length of approximately 8 km. The proposed port shall be well-connected with road and rail connectivity,” the statement said.
The port, which would have modern environment-friendly mechanized facilities for handling of cape-size vessels, is envisaged as an all-weather, greenfield, multi-cargo, direct berthing, deep-water commercial port for handling all types of cargo on the West coast in North Karnataka region to serve industries in the area covering Ballari, Hosapete, Hubballi, Kalaburagi, and South Maharashtra.
“To begin with, the capacity of the proposed port shall be 30 MTPA in the initial phase with further potential to increase substantially in the long run. As per the Karnataka Maritime Perspective Plan, Karnataka is currently having a hinterland potential of 44 MTPA of cargo, and the same is expected to increase to 117 MTPA by 2035. In comparison of the future demand and the capacity being handled by the present ports, there is a need for a deep draft port to fulfill the cargo handling gap requirement in the future. Hence, the concept of an alternate port for NMPA has emerged, which aims at the development of the port at Keni,” the statement added.
Arun Maheshwari, Joint MD and CEO of JSW Infrastructure, said, “Karnataka is targeting an impressive industrial growth and there has been an increased emphasis on the expansion and growth in maritime infrastructure in the region. Once the concession agreement is signed, we will start working to develop the Keni Port as an integral part of the state’s maritime infrastructure and trade gateway.
Through the development of this greenfield port, we are partnering Karnataka Government’s mission to meet the logistics demand of a rapidly growing state and region’s economy. Once developed, the port is expected to crucially address the rising import and export trade momentum of the region.”