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RAHUL WADKE/P MANOJ
A joint venture of DP World Ltd and India’s National Investment and Infrastructure Fund Ltd (NIIF) has outbid four other groups to develop a free trade warehousing zone (FTWZ) on 44 acres at the special economic zone (SEZ) being developed by Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust (JNPT).
Hindustan Infralog Private Limited (HIPL), the JV floated by Dubai-government owned port operator DP World and NIIF, quoted ₹12.8 crore per acre (total ₹563.2 crore) to emerge the highest bidder for the FTWZ, a Shipping Ministry official told BusinessLine , asking not to be named because the bid results have not been made public yet.
DP World and NIIF could not be immediately reached for comment.
The other bidding groups included Foxconn Technology Group, the world’s biggest electronics contract manufacturing company, Ascendas-Singbridge, LOGOS, and Everstone.
This will be the second deal for the DP World-NIIF combine after it acquired a 90 per cent stake in multi-modal logistics firm Continental Warehousing Corporation (Nhava Seva) Ltd (CWCNSL) earlier this year. That deal will help the Dubai government-owned firm enter related logistics segments, complementing its core business and boost volumes.
DP World, the largest listed global port operator, has invested $1.2 billion in India since 1997 and is currently the only foreign port operator running six terminals at Mundra, JNPT, Chennai, Cochin, and Vizag, with a combined capacity of over 6 million TEUs. It accounts for a market share of about 30 per cent of India’s annual container volumes shipped through its ports.
In JNPT, India’s biggest container port, it runs two separate terminals.
The port-based multi-product SEZ at JNPT, spread over 277 hectares for manufacturing and warehousing, is part of the Narendra Modi government’s plan to pursue a port-led industrial development model. The SEZ is located some 5 km from the port, providing locational advantages to investors with minimal regulatory risks.
The SEZ has received the key environment clearance from the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change.
The SEZ model of JNPT is expected to be replicated at other major port trusts owned by the Centre.
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