JSW Infrastructure, led by Sajjan Jindal and India’s second-largest private port operator, is poised to win a Rs 832 crore contract to build and mechanise two container berths at Netaji Subhas Dock (NSD) within the Kolkata Dock System (KDS), part of the Syama Prasad Mookerjee Port Authority.

The company emerged as the top bidder by quoting a royalty of Rs 4,678 per twenty-foot equivalent unit (TEU) — the highest ever for a brownfield container terminal project at a major state-owned port. JSW Infrastructure outbid Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone (APSEZ), which offered Rs 4,020 per TEU. Other technically qualified contenders like DP World, Century Ports, and Navayuga Engineering Co did not submit financial bids.

The contract, which spans 30 years, includes reconstructing berth 8, mechanising berths 7 and 8 with rail-mounted quay cranes (RMQCs), and managing operations over a 25-acre backup area. Once awarded, the project will mark JSW Infrastructure’s entry into Kolkata Port and its second container terminal after New Mangalore Port. In FY25, Syama Prasad Mookerjee Port handled 8.05 lakh TEUs — 6.2 lakh from KDS and 1.85 lakh from Haldia Dock Complex.