PM Modi to inaugurate JNPT’s fourth terminal tomorrow

The Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust (JNPT), India’s largest container port off Mumbai’s eastern coast, is set to double its container-handling capacity with the addition of its fourth terminal, which will be inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday.

Modi had laid the foundation stone for it in October 2015.

The first phase of the fourth container terminal (FCT) was completed in record time, and will add a capacity of 24 lakh containers per year; after the completion of phase 2 in 2022, the port’s capacity will



rise to 100 lakh containers per year.

The FCT, christened Bharat Mumbai Container Terminal, has been developed on a Design, Built, Fund, Operate and Transfer (DBFOT) basis for a concession period of 30 years, at an estimated cost of Rs7,915 crore. It has been developed by Singapore’s PSA International Pte Ltd.

Gopal Krishna, secretary, shipping, government of India, said: “We need more value addition in export. Only building ports will not help. We have many ports in the country. Container ports are required.”