India’s Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has inaugurated the fourth container terminal of Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust (JNPT) in Mumbai.
The Bharat Mumbai Container Terminal (BMCT) at JNPT will nearly double the port's container handling capacity by allowing it to handle 2.4 million more containers per year in the first phase and 10 million after completion of phase two in 2022.
In an announcement, India’s Ministry of Shipping said that the fourth terminal will cost an estimated US$ 1.2 billion (INR 7915 Crore) once completed.
It estimated that the first phase cost $732 million (INR 7915 Crore).
PM Modi laid the foundation stone for the project in October 2015.
The new terminal will be able to handle the biggest containerships from a quay length of 1 kilometre with cranes that can reach 22 rows wide.
It will also have the capacity for berthing three container ships at once.
State-of-the-art infrastructure at 4th Container Terminal will double the capacity of @JNPort by 2022 with which the capacity of JNPT will be 100 lakh containers per year.#JNPTTheFutureReadyPort #Sagarmala #TransformingIndia pic.twitter.com/tqAApTGCXU
— Ministry of Shipping (@shipmin_india) February 18, 2018
The terminal will be equipped with the largest rail facilities in India, which will be able to receive about 360 containers on 1.5-kilometre-long trains once the only on-dock dedicated freight corridor (DFC) compliant facility in India is completed.
It will also have provisions for storing 1,600 refrigerated containers to handle agricultural and horticulture produce.
JNPT’s development is part of the ‘Make in India’ government programme and the port-led development of the Sagarmala Programme.
Shri Nitin Gadkari, Minister of Shipping, Road Transport & Highway and Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation, said: “As committed by Hon’ble Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi, the first Phase of the terminal is ready in a record time.
“Logistics play a key role in the development of the economy and the government is committed to provide world class logistics and infrastructure facilities so that trade flourishes.”