The Hindu Business Line : ABG to build CFS at Kandla, Kolkata

ABG Heavy Industries, which has recently emerged as the successful bidder for operating the Kandla container terminal, is now planning foray into Container Freight Station (CFS) services.

The company, which also operates a container terminal at Kolkata port, has plans to set up a CFS facility both at Kandla and Kolkata ports.

"These CFSs are not standalone facilities. These will mostly be used to service the cargoes we handle at both these terminals," a senior official of the company told Business Line.

The company, which is awaiting the Letter of Intent from the Government to start operations at the Kandla terminal, has already initiated steps to import the necessary equipment. The company had won the contract for operating the Rs 250-crore terminal by out-bidding the other two companies - Gammon India and Afcons.

Developing Kandla: "We see bright prospects for container traffic through Kandla. Last fiscal, the terminal handled 1.70 lakh twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs)," the official said

As a matter of fact, the Kandla container terminal project had been hanging fire for about three-and-half-years now. Earlier, P&O Ports, which operates the Nhava Sheva International Container Terminal and the Chennai Container Terminal at Chennai port, had been the first to show interest in the project. But prolonged negotiations between P&O Ports and Kandla port over certain alterations in the concession agreement came a cropper, leading to the withdrawal of the container terminal operator about three years ago.

Kandla port has proposed to realign the container terminal project and have it constructed and operated on BOT basis on berths No 11 and 12, which have a combined quay length of 545 metres and a draft of about 12 metres alongside the berths. The berth No 12, which is at present being developed, is expected to be ready for use within the next 18 months or so.

The port is investing about Rs 250 crore for developing the terminal and ABG will just have to get the cargo handling equipment for operating the berths. In fact, the berth no 11, which is being operated now, will also be transferred to ABG on lease as part of the contract.

"Another significant development is that the port has taken steps to undertake dredging to deepen the draft to 14 metres. It has already allotted the dredging work to a private company," according to the ABG official.

Fresh plan: As per the fresh plan drawn up by Kandla port, the selected bidder will be required to commission full-fledged container handling operations at berth No 12, with at least two new Rail-Mounted Quay Cranes, within 24 months of the signing of lease agreement. Kandla port has projected a throughput of 4.5 lakh TEUs in the fifth year of operation for the terminal. The port's cardinal marketing plank for the box terminal project is that it has over 1 million sq km of hinterland, consisting of Jammu & Kashmir, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Haryana, Rajasthan, Delhi, Gujarat and parts of Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh.

As for the Kolkata terminal, ABG is focusing on smaller vessels. "Kolkata port has seen a surge in container throughput. In August this year, the port handled 27,733 TEUs of cargo, including 10,000 TEUs at the Cardinal terminal," the official said. Cardinal Logistics is a wholly-owned subsidiary of ABG Heavy Industries.

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