P&O buys Indian container port
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Much of New Delhi's trade now goes through the port of Mumbai.
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(CNN) -- Global shipping and ports operator P&O has bought a big new container terminal on the northwest coast of India for $195 million, the company said.
The deepwater terminal, which will have an annual capacity of 1.3 million 20-foot container units when fully completed, is at Mundra on the Gujarat coast of India.
Mundra is the closest deepwater port to the Indian capital of New Delhi, which now relies heavily on the port of Mumbai, further to the south. P&O already has container terminals at Mumbai's Nhava Sheva port, and at Chennai on the southeast coast.
In a statement to stock exchanges Thursday, P&O said it has bought Mundra International Container Terminal Ltd (MICTL) from the Adani Group. It said the Indian authorities had already granted foreign investment approval.
MICTL has a 28-year concession to operate the container terminal at Mundra.
According to P&O, commercial operations will begin later this month for some container ships, ahead of the commissioning of two quay cranes in August.
The port is expected to have capacity of 600,000 teus (20-foot container equivalent units) by the end of this year, with the remaining capacity to be added later.
P&O said it would take $120 million to get the port to full capacity, with $50 million committed for this year.
Shares in P&O are steady at A$5.75 in early Australian trade Friday. The stock is up more than 10 percent so far this year.
