Sajjan Jindal-led JSW Infrastructure Ltd, India’s second biggest private port operator, is set to win the rights to build and mechanise two berths for handling containers at Netaji Subhas Dock (NSD) in Kolkata Dock System (KDS) with an investment of ₹832 crore by placing the highest royalty price bid of ₹4,678 per twenty-foot equivalent unit (TEU).
Mumbai-listed JSW Infrastructure pipped Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone Ltd (APSEZ), India’s biggest private port operator, to wrest the 5 lakh TEUs capacity terminal project, its first in state-owned Syama Prasad Mookerjee Port Authority (Kolkata Port) on the eastern coast, multiple sources said.
APSEZ, the only other bidder to submit a price bid, quoted ₹4,020 per TEU when the price bids were opened on Tuesday.
Other technically qualified bidders, including DP World Ltd, Century Ports Ltd and Navayuga Engineering Co Ltd, did not submit price quotations for the project.
Port contracts at major port trusts are decided based on royalty per tonne of cargo handled. The bidder quoting the highest royalty per tonne wins the contract for 30 years.
The contract involves the reconstruction of berth 8, the mechanisation of berths 7 and 8 by installing a rail-mounted quay crane (RMQC) to facilitate faster handling of container cargo, along with a backup area of 25 acres and operating the berths for 30 years.
“The royalty price quoted by JSW Infrastructure is one of the highest bids received for a brownfield container terminal project at a state-owned major port,” said a source with knowledge of the bid. “It demonstrates that Kolkata is a very attractive market for container cargo on India’s eastern coast,” he added.
The NSD project will be the second container handling facility of JSW Infrastructure after the terminal it runs at New Mangalore Port.
Syama Prasad Mookerjee Port handled 8,05,000 TEUs in the year to March 2025, with Kolkata Dock System handling 6,20,000 TEUs and Haldia Dock Complex handling 1,85,000 TEUs.