The Hindu Business Line : JNPT box terminal project — Gateway Terminals achieves financial closure

WITH ABN-Amro Bank bank-rolling the debt component of the total project cost, Gateway Terminals India Pvt Ltd, a special purpose vehicle floated by Danish shipping and oil conglomerate Maersk A/S and railway PSU Concor, for building and operating a new box terminal at the premier Jawaharlal Nehru Port, has reached financial closure of the over Rs 1,000-crore project.

"Gateway Terminals has achieved financial closure within the stipulated tender deadline. The project is progressing well and is on schedule," Mr Hans Ole Madsen, Managing Director, Maersk India Pvt Ltd, told Business Line.

The Maersk-Concor combine had signed the concession and licence agreement with the Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust (JNPT) for developing and operating the new container facility for a 30-year period on August 10, 2004. As per the tender documents, the successful bidder had to attain financial closure within 180 days (by February 10) of signing the concession and license agreement. Maersk holds a majority stake of 74 per cent in the SPV while the remaining 26 per cent is with Concor.

The project promoters had submitted all relevant documents relating to financial closure to JNPT before February 10 including an undertaking from ABN Amro Bank, the lead bank, that it was agreeable to provide the requisite funds for constructing the terminal. Gateway Terminals is planning to raise about Rs 700 crore from banks and financial institutions to fund the project, a Shipping Ministry official said.

The documents are currently being scrutinised by a committee within the JNPT. "After the committee finds that everything is in order, the Port Trust will give a clearance to Maersk-Concor that they have fulfilled the commitment on financial closure," the official said.

ABN Amro Bank is likely to bring in other banks into the lending consortium to spread the risk and free it from taking the exposure on the entire amount. "A large portion of the funds will come from ABN Amro Bank which may also bring in other lenders and form a consortium to tie-up the entire funding requirements for the project," a company official said.

As per plans, Gateway Terminals is expected to start part-operations at the new terminal by January/February 2006 from a single berth initially. When fully operational, the new terminal is designed to handle 1.3 million TEUs per annum.

Meanwhile, the Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust-run Jawaharlal Nehru Port Container Terminal (JNPCT) has touched the one million TEU mark for fiscal 2004-05 on February 20.

The figure of one million TEUs was attained exactly a month earlier than the last fiscal, when the terminal had touched this mark on March 20, 2004. JNPT officials attributed this improvement to "better yard and window management". As per projections, JNPCT is likely to handle 1.14 million TEUs for the entire fiscal ending March 31, as against 1,038,434 TEUs in 2003-04.

The throughput at the neighbouring Nhava Sheva International Container Terminal (NSICT), run by P&O Ports, is 1,085,895 TEUs. The terminal touched the one million-TEU mark for fiscal 2004-05 on January 28, around the same time as the last fiscal.

NSICT has projected a throughput of 1.25 million TEUs for the current fiscal as against 1,230,555 TEUs in 2003-04.

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