Vizag Multipurpose Terminal Pvt Ltd, an equal joint venture between JMB Ports & Logistics and IPL (Indian Potash Limited), has signed a concession agreement with the Visakhapatnam port authority for the mechanisation and operation of a multipurpose cargo berth at the state-owned port on a 30-year contract. The concession agreement with Vizag Multipurpose terminal has been inked, according to K Rama Mohana Rao, chairman of the Visakhapatnam Port Authority. The project is launched and the terms and conditions of a port contract are laid out in a concession agreement.

JMB

The deal at Visakhapatnam port involves using private funds totalling Rs 201 cr to mechanise the eastern coast port’s EQ7

In order to win a tender issued by the Visakhapatnam Port Authority, the JM Baxi Port & Logistics and Indian Potash Ltd team submitted the highest royalty of Rs 55.44 per tonne for the project. In major ports, the winner of a port tender is the company willing to share the highest royalty per tonne of cargo handled at the berth with the port authority for the period of the agreement, which is 30 years. The annual increase in the royalty payment will follow the rise in the cost indicator known as the wholesale price index (WPI). The terminal operator will have the option to select market pricing under the new Major Port Authorities Act and the MCA (Model Concession Agreement).

Indian Potash Ltd is India’s biggest fertiliser importer and has owned 70% of fertiliser co-operatives. It is also the 2nd largest buyer of fertiliser in the international market. The only fertiliser company that handles fertilisers year-round through all Indian ports is this one. JMB Port & Logistics will have just won a fourth contract at a significant state-owned port. A contract to manage the container terminals at JN Port (Jawaharlal Nehru) and V O Chidambaranar Port as well as the shallow water/coastal berth at JN Port was signed in 2022 by Mumbai-based JMB Port & Logistics, India’s third most valuable logistics company.

JMB

JMB Port & Logistics will have just won a fourth contract at a significant state-owned port

The deal at Visakhapatnam port involves using private funds totalling Rs 201 crore to mechanise the eastern coast port’s EQ7 (East Quay berth 7) for handling bulk cargo, including fertilisers. The EQ7 berth can accommodate 3.61 million tonnes of cargo annually once it is automated. The initiative is a part of the government’s NMP (National Monetization Pipeline), which calls for the PPP privatisation of operational infrastructure assets, such as port terminals. At the port of Visakhapatnam, JMB ports & logistics independently manages a container terminal with a 1.5 million TEUs capacity.