IN Brief:
- Essar Ports has received a letter of award for a 30-year build, operate and transfer concession at Tuna Tekra, Kandla.
- The ₹2,276.06 crore project is designed around four 300-metre berths and capacity of 18.33 million tonnes a year.
- Deendayal Port Authority will provide dredging and common access infrastructure, while Essar funds and develops the terminal component.
Essar Ports has received a letter of award from Deendayal Port Authority to develop a multipurpose cargo terminal at Tuna Tekra, Kandla, on India’s western coast. The proposed facility will provide 18.33 million tonnes of annual handling capacity under a build, operate and transfer concession lasting 30 years. Essar secured the award through an international competitive bidding process, but the award marks a development commitment rather than the opening of an operational terminal.
The project has an estimated cost of ₹2,276.06 crore, split between more than ₹1,552.57 crore of investment by Essar Ports and ₹723.49 crore by Deendayal Port Authority. The spending responsibilities are divided between the concessionaire’s terminal works and infrastructure that serves the wider port. The split makes berth commissioning dependent on compatible dredging depths and landside access: vessels cannot use the new quay at its intended draft unless the approach channel, turning areas and connecting infrastructure are ready.
The terminal design comprises four berths of 300 metres each, producing a combined quay length of 1,200 metres. Essar says the berths are intended to accommodate Capesize vessels of up to 170,000 deadweight tonnes, with draft capability of up to 18 metres. Deadweight tonnage describes the carrying capacity of a vessel rather than the cargo guaranteed to be handled on any one call; actual cargo lift remains dependent on vessel loading, permissible draft and operational conditions.
Deendayal Port Authority is to provide dredging in the access channel, berth pockets and turning circles, alongside a common approach road. Channel dredging establishes the navigable depth needed for approaching vessels, while the depth of berth pockets and the space available for turning govern whether large ships can berth and manoeuvre safely. The common road is the starting point for moving imports and exports into the hinterland, although the present project information does not specify dedicated rail connections or a completed inland distribution configuration.
A multipurpose terminal offers flexibility across cargo types, but the operational requirements differ sharply between bulk commodities and break-bulk or project cargo. Bulk movements depend on the throughput of unloading equipment, storage and onward transport, while irregular or oversized loads place greater demands on lifting plans, space allocation and quay access. Essar has not identified a final equipment package, a handling productivity target or a cargo mix. The annual capacity figure therefore sets a design envelope without determining the lifting systems or storage arrangements that will be installed.
The figure of 18.33 million tonnes describes designed annual terminal capacity rather than a forecast of shipments in the first operating year. Achieved throughput will depend on commissioning, berth occupancy, the distribution of vessel sizes, cargo handling rates, storage turnover and whether inland transport can remove goods without creating a bottleneck at the quay. The opportunity to handle larger ships could reduce the number of voyages required for an equivalent cargo volume, but the economic benefit varies with utilisation and the route served.
Western India’s industrial cargo network will gain another terminal capable of receiving deep draft vessels only after construction, dredging and commissioning are complete; the concession award does not change current sailing schedules. Kandla serves a diverse industrial hinterland, and capacity for deeper draft vessels could provide room for larger consignments when demand and landside systems support them. Whether the scheme eases congestion at existing dry cargo berths will depend on when the new facilities are delivered and which traffic transfers to them.
Essar has also indicated that the project will be operated in accordance with applicable environmental requirements and the Green Port Policy. Those commitments establish the intended regulatory framework, not a quantified emissions saving. Dredging, marine construction, equipment selection and future vessel calls each have different environmental effects, and the company has not yet published enough technical detail to calculate the project’s emissions or energy profile.
The terminal forms part of Essar’s renewed port investment programme. The group states that its current international port portfolio represents approximately 60 million tonnes of operational capacity across India, Indonesia and the United Kingdom, while its historical development activities have involved larger cumulative capacity. Those two measures should not be conflated: the historic total includes assets subsequently monetised, whereas the current portfolio describes capacity still associated with ongoing operations.
Delivery will require the concessionaire and port authority to coordinate marine works, terminal construction, access infrastructure and the eventual operating systems. The letter of award establishes the commercial starting point, but Essar has not supplied a firm completion date or a detailed commissioning sequence. The published design specifies 1,200 metres of new berth frontage and 18.33 million tonnes of annual handling capacity; the dates when dredging, berth construction and landside access will permit commercial operations remain undisclosed.
