<p class="ds-markdown-paragraph" style="margin: 16px 0px; color: rgb(15, 17, 21); font-family: quote-cjk-patch, Inter, system-ui, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, &quot;Segoe UI&quot;, Roboto, Oxygen, Ubuntu, Cantarell, &quot;Open Sans&quot;, &quot;Helvetica Neue&quot;, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;"><span class="">Essar Ports announced on 21 October that it has formally received the Letter of Award from Deendayal Port Authority for the development, operation, and transfer of an 18.33 million tonnes per annum multipurpose cargo terminal at Tuna Tekra, Kandla, in Gujarat. The project is structured as a build-operate-transfer concession under a public-private partnership model, with a 30-year concession period. Essar prevailed in the global tender relaunched in 2025 with a royalty bid of ₹61 per tonne.</span></p><p class="ds-markdown-paragraph" style="margin: 16px 0px; color: rgb(15, 17, 21); font-family: quote-cjk-patch, Inter, system-ui, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, &quot;Segoe UI&quot;, Roboto, Oxygen, Ubuntu, Cantarell, &quot;Open Sans&quot;, &quot;Helvetica Neue&quot;, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;"><span class="">The total project cost is estimated at ₹2,276.06 crore (approximately $241 million). Essar Ports will invest over ₹1,552.57 crore (approximately $164.4 million), while DPA will contribute ₹723.49 crore (approximately $76.6 million) for the construction of common-user infrastructure. This cost-sharing structure reflects a model increasingly adopted by India's major ports when expanding capacity: private capital funds the terminal operating assets, while the port authority funds shared facilities such as channels and access roads, reducing the concessionaire's upfront capital burden.</span></p><p class="ds-markdown-paragraph" style="margin: 16px 0px; color: rgb(15, 17, 21); font-family: quote-cjk-patch, Inter, system-ui, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, &quot;Segoe UI&quot;, Roboto, Oxygen, Ubuntu, Cantarell, &quot;Open Sans&quot;, &quot;Helvetica Neue&quot;, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;"><span class="">The terminal's design specifications are optimised for large bulk carriers. Four berths of 300 metres each, totalling 1,200 metres of quay length, are designed to accommodate Capesize vessels of up to 170,000 deadweight tonnage with a maximum draft of 18 metres. These specifications will allow Kandla to handle large bulk carriers that were previously constrained by berth conditions, with direct implications for the efficiency of moving commodities such as iron ore, coal, and fertiliser. DPA will be responsible for dredging the approach channel, berth basin, and turning circle, as well as constructing a common approach road.</span></p><p class="ds-markdown-paragraph" style="margin: 16px 0px; color: rgb(15, 17, 21); font-family: quote-cjk-patch, Inter, system-ui, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, &quot;Segoe UI&quot;, Roboto, Oxygen, Ubuntu, Cantarell, &quot;Open Sans&quot;, &quot;Helvetica Neue&quot;, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;"><span class="">The project's urgency stems from capacity saturation at Kandla. According to port authority data, occupancy at existing dry bulk berths has exceeded 90%, against an ideal level of around 70%. The new Tuna Tekra terminal will relieve that pressure while providing incremental capacity for Kandla's competitive position on India's west coast. Kandla is one of the core gateways on the west coast, handling substantial bulk and breakbulk cargo for Gujarat and the northern hinterland, and capacity bottlenecks have long constrained its growth potential.</span></p><p class="ds-markdown-paragraph" style="margin: 16px 0px; color: rgb(15, 17, 21); font-family: quote-cjk-patch, Inter, system-ui, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, &quot;Segoe UI&quot;, Roboto, Oxygen, Ubuntu, Cantarell, &quot;Open Sans&quot;, &quot;Helvetica Neue&quot;, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;"><span class="">For Essar Ports, the project represents a strategic turning point. Chief Executive Ashish Rajgarhia described Tuna Tekra as "a defining moment in Essar Ports' journey to rebuild and expand its port business." The Essar group once held a significant position in Indian ports, but large-scale deleveraging — selling substantial assets to repay debt of around ₹14 trillion — substantially shrank its port business. The company currently operates about 60 million tonnes of annual capacity across India, Indonesia, and the UK. Tuna Tekra is its first major move to re-commit to Indian port infrastructure since becoming debt-free in 2022.</span></p><p class="ds-markdown-paragraph" style="margin: 16px 0px; color: rgb(15, 17, 21); font-family: quote-cjk-patch, Inter, system-ui, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, &quot;Segoe UI&quot;, Roboto, Oxygen, Ubuntu, Cantarell, &quot;Open Sans&quot;, &quot;Helvetica Neue&quot;, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;"><span class="">From a broader perspective, the project is part of a wave of port capacity expansion in India. As trade volumes grow and vessel sizes increase, major ports are accelerating capacity building by bringing in private capital through PPP models. The same Tuna Tekra area also hosts a DP World container terminal project (designed capacity of 2.19 million TEU); the two are separate concessions serving different cargo types. This zonal development model allows Kandla to advance two core capabilities in parallel within the same satellite port area without mutual interference.</span></p><p class="ds-markdown-paragraph" style="margin: 16px 0px; color: rgb(15, 17, 21); font-family: quote-cjk-patch, Inter, system-ui, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, &quot;Segoe UI&quot;, Roboto, Oxygen, Ubuntu, Cantarell, &quot;Open Sans&quot;, &quot;Helvetica Neue&quot;, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;"><span class="">The execution timeline is now clear. Essar expects commercial operations to begin in 2031. Between award and operations, the project must complete concession agreement signing, financial close, detailed engineering, construction, and equipment procurement. DPA's dredging and road works must proceed in coordination with terminal construction, and delay on either side could affect the overall schedule. Given the construction pressures common to large Indian port projects, whether the 2031 target is met will depend on Essar's project management capability and DPA's efficiency in delivering supporting infrastructure.</span></p><p class="ds-markdown-paragraph" style="margin: 16px 0px; color: rgb(15, 17, 21); font-family: quote-cjk-patch, Inter, system-ui, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, &quot;Segoe UI&quot;, Roboto, Oxygen, Ubuntu, Cantarell, &quot;Open Sans&quot;, &quot;Helvetica Neue&quot;, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;"><span class="">For India's shipping and logistics sector, the significance of Tuna Tekra extends beyond the capacity increment of a single terminal. It marks the return to growth of a private operator with deep industry experience that had previously retrenched, and it validates the continued viability of the BOT model in major port expansions. If the project proceeds smoothly, it will not only ease Kandla's capacity bottleneck but could also pave the way for further Essar investment at other ports. At the same time, port capacity takes years to materialise, while India's trade infrastructure needs are immediate — a structural tension that every participant in India's port expansion wave must confront.</span></p>