Adani, JM Baxi and JSW Infra in Running For Iran’s Chabahar Port Deal

Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone Ltd (APSEZ) is eyeing the deal to manage, operate and maintain containers and multi-purpose terminals of the Chabahar port in Iran, which was partially earlier this month. Apart from APSEZ, JM Baxi Group and JSW Infrastructure Ltd. have also been shortlisted on a tender floated by India Ports Global Ltd.

Set up by the Indian government to make strategic investments in overseas ports, Ports Global is a 60:40 joint venture between Jawaharlal Port Trust and Deendayal Port Trust. The Chabahar port project is going to be the first overseas venture for an Indian state-owned port.

India Ports Global Ltd (IGPL) and Aria Banader Iranian Port inked a deal to operate the container and multi-purpose terminals at Chabahar port Phase I, with the capital investment of $85.21 million and an annual expenditure of $22.95 million on a 10-year lease. According to the deal, India Ports Global has to select a strategic private partner for the management of the port for 10 years.

The strategic private partner will be selected by March 31, 2018, a Shipping Ministry official told the Hindu BusinessLine. The contract — Management, Operation and Maintenance (MOM) — will have a fixed management fee and a variable management fee. The bidder with the lowest variable management fee from IGPL will get the deal.

The MOM partner will have to get a special purpose vehicle (SPV) in Iran with a local private partner, the report added.

The first phase development will have container terminal with two berths of 640-meter quay length and depth of 16 meters along with a multi-purpose terminal with a quay length of 600 meters and draft of 14 meters. The port has a total back-up area of 70 hectares.

The Chabahar port is said to be India’s counter to the port of Gwadar on the south-western coast of Pakistan’s volatile Balochistan province, which is run almost entirely by China as a part of its expansive China Pakistan Economic Corridor.