JSW Jaigarh Port Signs Concession Agreement with Konkan Railway Corporation

JSW Jaigarh Port Ltd (JSWJPL), an arm of JSW Infrastructure Limited today announced the signing of a concession agreement with Konkan Railway Corporation Limited (KRCL) in presence of Shri Devendra Fadnavis, Hon'ble CM of Maharashtra and Shri Suresh Prabhu, Minister of Railways, for developing a 33.7 km of new railway corridor, connecting port to the new Digni station on Konkan Rail network. JSWJPL emerged as a successful bidder following a competitive bidding process to develop this project under Public Private Partnership model for development, operation and maintenance of rail system.

The Joint Venture is formalized as Jaigarh Digni Rail Limited (JDRL), with JSWJPL, KRCL and Maharashtra Maritime Board (MMB) are the shareholders. The estimated cost of the project is Rs. 771 Crores, which is funded through combination of equity and debt and the Concession Agreement between JDRL with Ministry of Railways (MoR) through KRCL will be valid for a period of 30 years.

The alignment for this new rail line passes through difficult terrain of Sahyadri mountains which would necessitate construction of about 18 km long tunnels. The estimated time of completion is 30 months and the rail corridor is expected to handle around 12 mtpa cargo.

The project will play a critical role which has been conceptualised by KRCL as a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) as per Participative Policy promulgated by Ministry of Railways in association with Konkan Railway, Maharashtra Maritime Board and M/s JSWJPL to transport bulk commodities from Jaigarh port to Konkan Railway and further onward movement to hinterland.

JSW Jaigarh Port is a modern, mechanized, all weather deep water port having a capacity of 15 million ton per annum with two berths and is expanding rapidly to achieve capacity of 65 mtpa by 2020. After having successfully handled cape size vessel (1,80,000 DWT), it is aiming for direct berthing of next generation vessels, i.e. Vale Max- the dry bulk carrier, Q- Max (the LNG carrier), Triple-E (the largest container carrier) and Very Large Crude Carriers.

Commenting on the development, Sajjan Jindal, CMD, JSW Group, said "The project will usher a new era of development for the region and provide impetus to the economic activities with the new link. The Jaigarh Port will get major boost with the signing of concession agreement for Jaigarh Digni new rail line. We are sure this will bring a socio economic change in the region by creating more job avenues. We are committed towards the make in India story and will work closely with the government to propel the economic growth".

About JSW Infrastructure Limited

JSW Infrastructure Limited (JSWIL) has been bearing responsibility of logistics function for JSW Group as well as third parties for over a decade now. With installed capacity of over 33 mtpa, JSWIL handled about 24 mtpa cargo in last fiscal across its port facilities in Dharamtar Port near Mumbai, South West Port terminals at Goa and Jaigarh Port at Ratnagiri, Maharashtra. JSWIL has vision to achieve capacity of 200 mtpa by 2020 through adoption of latest technologies, efficient operations and enduring value to its customers, community and environment. JSWIL has given direct and indirect employment opportunities to about 1500 people in addition to business avenues to local entrepreneurs at its port locations.

About JSW Jaigarh Port Limited

The JSW Jaigarh Port Ltd is as a common-user multipurpose all-weather port. JSWJPL signed a concession agreement with the Maharashtra Maritime Board on June 24, 2008 for the design, finance, construction, operations and maintenance of a multipurpose common user port at Damankhol Bay, Jaigarh Dist. Ratnagiri for a period of 50 years. The port is located in the Ratnagiri District at Latitude 17 17 Nand Longitude 73 14 E along the southern bank of the Shastri River, approximately 110 NM south of Mumbai and 126 NM north of Goa. The port has installed capacity to handle about 15 million ton per annum (mtpa) cargo and last fiscal (FY15) it handled about 8.5 mtpa cargo.

About JSW Group

JSW Group is an USD 11 billion conglomerate, part of the O.P. Jindal Group, having substantial presence across core sectors of India's economy like steel, energy, infrastructure and cement. JSW Steel Ltd is the flagship company of JSW Group having installed steel production capacity of 14.3 million tonnes per annum (mtpa). JSW Energy Ltd has installed capacity of 3140 MW. JSW Cement Ltd has installed capacity of 6 mtpa.