The Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust (JNPT), an autonomous body under the Major Port Trusts Act, 1963, was commissioned on 26th May, 1989. The port was originally planned to decongest the Mumbai port and serve as a hub port for container handling for the region. JNPT became the first Indian port to handle more than 1 million TEUs (twenty foot equivalent unit, the measure used for container traffic) in 2000-01. In view of the increasing containerised trade, a third container terminal was tendered in October 2002 and awarded in August 2004 to Gateway Terminals of India Private Limited (GTIPL). GTIPL has begun the construction and operations are expected to begin by early 2006. As stated by the Department of Shipping, “The increased volume of container traffic has put a lot of strain on the existing (landside) infrastructure, leading to the problem of frequent congestion in the port.” The author was approached by the Ministry of Commerce for a diagnostic study of JNPT. The study was carried out during February to April 2005. As part of the study, it was decided to keep in perspective three scenarios of traffic: (i) upto 2.5 million TEUs, ie the current levels, (ii) upto 4 million TEUs, ie from mid 2006 as GTIPL becomes operational and (iii) beyond 4 million TEUs, when the fourth box terminal is made operational. This paper presents the analysis and recommendations of the study.
