Safe harbour

Its full name is Mundra Port and Special Economic Zone, but let’s just call it Mundra Port. For it’s the port that’s the company’s flagship activity today; the special economic zone is on the back burner.

The port is clearly the company’s winning proposition. Last fortnight, a ship carrying coal that had anchored at the Mundra Port had its entire consignment of 40,000 tonnes cleared in just 24 hours—at any other Indian port that would have taken at least 33 hours. That resulted in a huge cost-saving for the importing company as cargo ships charge by the hour. “Our objective is to give better value to our customers,” says Rajeeva Sinha, Director, Mundra Port.

“Companies will prefer Mundra over other ports in the region as the port’s deep draft (of 17 meters) will allow ships to carry more cargo,” says Kapil Yadav, Equity Analyst with Dolat Capital. Mundra Port’s operating profit margin increased to 63 per cent in the December quarter from 60.5 per cent a year ago, while the net profit margin stood at 33.5 per cent versus 25.5 per cent a year ago. “Our aim is to have an operating margin of 70 per cent next year,” says Sinha. He is targeting cargo of 50 million tonnes next year, up from 36.37 million tonnes projected for 2008-09 (30 million till January).

Why Mundra Port is a winner Diversified cargo (crude, dry, containers) de-risks the port operations Deepest draft (17 meters) allows big ships to come in and more cargo to be handled Good road and rail connectivity both to Mumbai and New Delhi Lower turnaround time for cargo than in other ports