Kandla, JN ports may be asked to operate Iranian cargo terminals

The Union Government may ask the cash surplus Kandla and Jawaharlal Nehru ports to develop and operate cargo terminals at Chabahar port in Iran.

Last week, External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid, who led a delegation to Tehran, announced that India would invest in Chabahar port project, which is considered strategically important for the country’s exports to the landlocked Afghanistan.

According to a proposal under the Government’s consideration, Kandla and Jawaharlal Nehru ports will be asked to develop one berth each at Chabahar.

JNPT will operate a container terminal and Kandla will run a multi-purpose berth, a Shipping Ministry official told Business Line.

He said the details are yet to be worked out but the Ministry will be actively involved in India’s investment in the overseas port project.

According to reports, the Government has in-principle agreed to an initial investment of $100 million in the Iranian port.

Jawaharlal Nehru port is the biggest container facility in the country handling nearly 50 per cent of the containerised cargo. Kandla ranks top among Indian ports in terms of overall volume of cargo.

Kandla Port Chairman P. D Vaghela said the port is prepared to take up the Iranian project.

Kandla has the experience and technical capability to develop and operate multi-purpose cargo terminals, he said. Recently, D.P. Srivastava, Indian Ambassador to Iran, visited Kandla port and held discussions with the port management. A senior JNPT official said there have been talks about India’s likely participation in the Iranian port project, but the port trust has yet to receive any specific communication regarding its involvement. India has been eying Chabahar port for nearly a decade, to get easier access to Afghanistan.

India, Iran and Afghanistan have an agreement on preferential treatment and low tariff for goods moved through Chabahar.

However, the current move is seen as a strategy to counter China’s recent takeover of the Gwadar port in Pakistan, which is some 70 km away from Chabahar.

Gwadar, located on the Gulf of Oman, is a vital sea-link for China to West Asia.

If India goes ahead with its plan, this will be the first overseas investment by Government owned ports. There was a proposal to set up a company called Indian Global Ports to invest in port projects abroad as part of the Government’s Maritime Agenda released in 2010. However, this is yet to take shape.

According to analysts, Indian investments in the Iranian port would not be economically viable initially as cargo volume will not be large enough.

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