Mundra Port

Mundra Port & Special Economic Zone Limited

Type	Public BSE: 532921
Industry	Ports & Shipping
Founded	1988
Founder(s)	Gautam Adani
Headquarters	Ahmedabad, India
Key people	Gautam Adani (Chairman)
Revenue	US $454 million(2011)
Net income	US $205 million(2011)
Parent	Adani Group
Website	[1]

Mundra Port and Special Economic Zone (MPSEZ) Limited manages the largest privately owned port in the country. The port project was initiated in 1988 by the Adani Group as a logistics base for their international trade operations when the sector was opened for private sector. The group leveraged its primary knowledge of the shipping sector built by its sheer volume of international trade from 1988 to develop the port at Mundra. The port also operates world's largest coal handling terminal at Mundra. MPSEZ is spread over an area of 100 km²². With the first phase area of 6,893 acres (27.89 km²), already notified by the Government of India. This makes MPSEZ the first largest Private SEZ to be notified by the Government of India.

The strategic location of the port in the Northern Gulf of Kutch, en-route major maritime routes and the unmatched connectivity through rail, road, air & pipeline makes it one of the country’s most convenient gateways for cargo, bound westwards. The port has the capacity to handle all types of cargos viz. containers, dry bulk, break bulk, liquid cargo and automobile.

Mundra port has come a long way since its inception and today it occupies the top slot amongst the private ports and ranks 7th amongst all Indian ports. Mundra port achieved 52 million tons of cargo for the year 2010-11 (40 million in 2009-10) growing at an impressive rate of 42% CAGR for the last 4 years.

Mundra Port being conferred with the prestigious Annual Indian Maritime Gateway Awards 2009 in the “Private Port of the Year 2009” category.

Location of the port

Mundra port is located at Mundra, 60 km west of Gandhidham in Kutch district of Gujarat. Mundra Port is strategically located for global trade (Latitude: 22º 43’ 88’ N; Longitude: 69º 42’ 34’ E). Located on the northern coast of the Gulf of Kutch on the west coast of India, Mundra Port provides a convenient international trade gateway to Europe, Africa, America and the Middle East. Mundra port benefits from proactive policies and governance in Gujarat, one of India’s most industralised, investor friendly and commercially successful states. The port is ideally situated to service the huge hinterland of northern and northwest India, which account for two-thirds of India’s GDP. It has considerable distance advantage over other ports to most destinations in Rajasthan, Haryana, Punjab, Delhi – NCR, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand and J&K.

Berths

Presently MPSEZ has the following berths

Multipurpose Terminal 1 : 4 Berths (Bulk, Break Bulk and Liquid Cargo)draft of 14.5 m to 17.5 m
Multipurpose Terminal 2 : 4 Berths (Bulk and Break Bulk cargo) having draft of 14.5 m to 17.5 m
Multipurpose Terminal 3 : 5 Berths (1 already operational 4 under construction)(Bulk and Break Bulk cargo) having draft of 14.5 m to 17.5 m
West Basin  : 3 Berths (Bulk cargo) having draft of 18 m to 20 m
South Basin  : 3 Berths (under construction)(Container) having draft of 18 m to 20 m
Container Terminal  : 4 Berths with a length of 1264 m having draft of 17 m
Single Point Mooring  : 2 SPM berths with a discharge rate of 6000 MT/hour

Tugs

10 tugs (Japanese make)
6 tugs with 55 Ton Bollard Pull
4 tugs with 70 Ton Bollard Pull

Facilities

Mundra port is an all weather, independent and commercial port. The pilotage within Mundra port limits is compulsory and port provides 2 tugs for assistance in maneuvers. Mundra port has a clear deep water approach with a minimum depth of 18 m at any state of tide. The tidal range is between +0.37 m and +6.40 m; tidal streams flow 0700 – 2500 at an average rate of3 knots (5.6 km/h)., and 4 - 5 knots (9.3 km/h). during spring tides. Mundra port has a wave height 0.14 - 1.30 m and wave period 6.50 sec. - 17.0 sec.

Connectivity

Road
Mundra Port is about 65 km from Bhuj and 400 km from Ahmedabad. It is easily accessible by the national highway network (NH 8A and NH 15). As NH 8A is part of the East-West Corridor of the Golden Quadrilateral project (connecting the four Indian metros – Mumbai, Chennai, New Delhi and Kolkata), which runs from Porbandar in the west to Silchar on in the northeast, the proximity of this port to this highway is of strategic importance.

Rail

Mundra Port is well connected to the Indian railway network.
• The port has 7 railway sidings and two dedicated diesel locomotives
• It can handle double stack container trains
• A 64 km private railway line has been developed which connects the port with the national network at Adipur. Adipur falls on the broad gauge from Mumbai to Bhuj. Adani also has equity stakes in the Kutch Rail Company Ltd. (KRCL), a project by the Indian railways to shorten the distance between the northern hinterland (including Delhi and commercially important cities like Ludhiana) and Mundra Port by providing a broad gauge connection between Palanpur and Adipur.

Air

The nearest commercial airports to Mundra Port are at Bhuj (65 km) and Kandla (60 km). Mundra Port itself has a private operational airstrip that is suitable for landing mid-size jets. The aerodrome can be extended for commercial operations as land is available with the Adani group adjoining the airstrip.

Pipeline
Because of the distance advantage over large ports like the ones at Mumbai, Mundra is a port of choice for crude and other liquid cargo bound for the northern hinterland including the refineries of Punjab. Pipelines have been laid to Bhatinda, etc.

Cargo composition

Mundra port has diversified into various cargoes like coal, container, steel, agri commodities, ship to shore, automobile exports, containers, crude, vegetable oil and chemicals. In the financial year 2009-10, MPSEZ handled over 40 millon tons of cargo growing at an impressive rate of over 42% CAGR for the last 4 years.

Future plans

Mundra port is building a pan India port presence as the group is setting up terminals at Dahej, Gujarat and Murmagoa, Goa. In addition port is also exploring the opportunities to setup ports across India and overseas. Recently Mundra Port has been awarded LOI by Hazira Port Pvt. Ltd. for development of non-LNG port facilities at Hazira. The port once developed will be the only common user deep draft port facility in the region. The overall master plan provides for 13 berths, to be developed in a phased manner, starting from three to four berths for container, liquid and dry bulk in the first phase.

Mundra port and SEZ Limited (MPSEZ) a member of ‘C-40 World Port’ and by sustained effort is working towards becoming the Greenest Port in South Asia.

Work in progress

West Port “Coal Import Terminal”
West port a 60 million ton world’s largest coal import terminal shall have 20 berths when fully constructed with a draft of around 21.5 meters geared for cape size vessels. The terminal commissioned on 22 December 2010 and work in other phases are in progress.

South Port
The South Port is being developed in a phased manner. The terminal will be a dedicated container and Ro-Ro terminal. The container terminal once completed will have 6.5 million TEU capacity. Ro-Ro terminal will also be designed according to the International standards.

Berth No-9,10,11 & 12
MPSEZ believes that “The berth must wait for the ship not the ship for the berth”. Port make sure that berths are constructed as and when the berth occupancy reaches 65%. The Port is proactively going ahead for building the Berth No-9,10,11 & 12; which shall come into operation in 18 months from date.

Fertilizer cargo complex
Fertiliser handling has been a labor oriented activity at the port. In the peak season, the number of laborers entering the port crosses over 6000 and the average productivity achieved is around 8 rakes per day. The fertilizer cargo complex is being designed as an online loading system and capable of handling 10 rakes per day with labor force of 1000.

Goliath cranes
Mundra Port handles “steel pipes” for export from various steel manufacturers. For improving the productivity of steel handling at the port Goliath cranes with vacuum lifting attachment are being installed that will reduce the turnaround time by 30-40%.

Access control systems
Access control system is being implemented at Mundra Port and shall be completed by January 2010.The system was designed keeping in mind about the threats for the maritime coast.Use of Palm Vein Authentication Scanners is the highlight of this system.

See also

Mundra has a 99 year lease on the Abbot Point port in Queensland, Australia.

References

External links

• Mundra Port Homepage
• Adani Group Homepage
• Adani Enterprises Homepage
• Adani Power Homepage