A Guide to Mumbai’s JNPT Port and its Special Economic Zone

Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust or JNPT acts a major catalyst for India’s trade and commerce and offers seamless services to the international cargo that docks here. In this article, we introduce key features and facilities of the Port, including its multiple terminals, traffic capacity, connectivity infrastructure, special economic zone, and spotlight other ease of doing business parameters.

The Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust (JNPT) is India’s largest container handling port in India. Variously known as JLN Port and Nhava Sheva Port, JNPT is located east of Mumbai in Navi Mumbai’s Raigad district. The port is on the Arabian Sea and accessed via Thane Creek.

The port’s hinterland connectivity by rail and road will soon be strengthened by ongoing projects, such as the Dedicated Freight Corridor (DFC), the Multi-Modal Logistics Park (MMLP), and widening port-to-road connectivity. Upon completion, DFC will increase the existing train capacity of 27 to 100 trains per day.

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JNPT is connected to 34 container freight stations (CFS) and 47 inland container depots (ICDs) across the country. There is rail connectivity to three local ICD destinations – see complete ICD list here.

JNPT accounts for more than half of India’s total container volume handled at 12 public ports and around 40 percent of the country’s overall containerized ocean trade. It is poised to have the capacity to handle 10 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) of containers by the year 2022-23.

Location

JNPT’s locational proximity to economic hubs and satellite regions of Mumbai, Navi Mumbai, and Pune as well as airports, hotels, and exhibition centers, etc. enables it to address shipper requirements efficiently and promptly.

The port’s location: Latitude- 18*56’43” North and Longitude- 72*56’24” East along the eastern shore of Mumbai harbor off Elephanta Island.

Terminals and planned logistics infrastructure

Terminals  

• JNPT has five container terminals. Four terminals are run by private entities and the fifth terminal, the Jawaharlal Nehru Port Container Terminal (JNPCT), is run by the port trust itself.

The four private terminals are:

1. Gateway Terminals India Pvt Ltd (GTIPL), the facility run by a joint venture between A P M Terminals Management B V and Container Corporation of India Ltd (Concor).
2. Nhava Sheva International Container Terminal Pvt Ltd (NSICT), run by the Dubai government-owned D P World Private Ltd.
3. Nhava Sheva (India) Gateway Terminal Pvt Ltd (NSIGT), also run by D P World.
4. Bharat Mumbai Container Terminals Private Limited (BMCT), run by Singapore’s PSA International Pte Ltd.

• JNPT also has a shallow water berth for general cargo and another liquid cargo terminal managed by the BPCL-IOCL consortium. According to port authorities, JNPT BPCL Liquid Cargo Terminal handled the highest LPG cargo during 2020-21 at 1.04 million ton (MT) from 70 vessels. This was 22.35 percent higher when compared 0.85 million ton from 57 vessels in 2019-20.
• In March this year, JNPT announced that a new inter-terminal route will connect the BMC Terminal with the other four other terminals at the port to streamline traffic movement and will exclusively deal in transshipment and inter-terminal rain handling operations. JNPT authorities said the new route will reduce container movement distance by half, from the existing 5 km to 2.5 km in one direction. This is expected to increase the rail share and volume of transshipment containers coming to the Port.
• The Fourth Container Terminal is under development in two phases. While Phase-I is operational, Phase-II is expected to be fully operational by 2022-23 with a quay length of 2,000 meters that will add an annual capacity of 4.8 million TEUs.

Satellite and dry port plans

In addition, the JNPT is also developing a satellite port at Vadhvan and four dry Ports at Jalna, Wardha, Sangli, and Nashik to promote the industrialization in the Maharashtra hinterland.

Top export and import items

• Major exports from Jawaharlal Nehru Port are textiles, sporting goods, carpets, textile machinery, boneless meat, chemicals, and pharmaceuticals.
• Main imports are chemicals, machinery, plastics, electrical machinery, vegetable oils, and aluminum and other non-ferrous metals.

JNPT handles cargo traffic mostly originating from or destined for the main industrial states of Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, and Karnataka, as well as most of North India.

JNPT traffic capacity

• Container traffic at JNPT fell about six percent to 4.7 million TEUs in the financial year 2020-21, despite March having recorded the highest traffic growth (527,792 TEUs) since the port began operations, caused by the COVID-induced lockdown.
• The container traffic at JNPT stood at 5.03 million TEUs in 2019-20.
• The port handled 6,097 rakes in FY21 as compared to 5,127 rakes handled during FY20.
• The average turn-around time of all vessels was down to 28.64 hours in 2020-21 from 29.42 hours in 2019-20; for container vessels, it reduced to 25.30 hours from 25.82 hours.

June 2021

• With the easing of lockdown restrictions and pickup in the domestic economic activity in recent months, JNPT recorded a throughput of 441,984 TEUs in June 2021 as compared to 289,292 TEUs in the same period last year, showing growth of 52.78 percent.
• In terms of rail operations, JNPT handled 88,849 TEUs of internal container depot traffic from 548 rakes in June 2021; the rail coefficient was 20.10 percent.

Customs

JNPT has a full-fledged customs house. According to the Jawaharlal Nehru Custom House, the average turnaround time for vessels calling on the port is less than one day, and the average time taken for the containers to be shifted to the various container freight stations where the customs examination and clearance of the containers takes place is one day.

Special economic zone

JNPT has developed a multi-product Special Economic Zone (SEZ) on 277.38 hectares of JNPT-owned land along the Panvel – Uran road connecting the cargo terminals to state highways. A key attraction for the SEZ is thus low last mile costs for export-oriented manufacturers – it is 5 km from the port.

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The port’s SEZ has so far allotted co-developers 21 plots for 20 micro, small, and medium enterprise units (MSME) and one free trade warehousing zone (FTWZ).

Five units among these allottees have started their construction activities. Further, M/s OWS LLP Oil Field Warehouse Pvt. Ltd. and M/s Krish Food Industry (India) have completed their first phase of operational activity and were declared operational units by Development Commissioner, SEEPZ, SEZ from June 24, 2020.

The following are key features of the JNPT SEZ and incentives offered.

Land

• The SEZ is the first-of-its-kind at a major port complex in India, and interested co-developers can lease land for 60 years, which is eligible for further extensions as per Port land policy guidelines.
• Land allotment is done using transparent e-tender cum auction process. The upfront lease premium (reserved price) for area in JNPT SEZ is as per Tariff Authority of Major Ports (TAMP).

Power plan

• 45 MVA: Power supply to be made available for the units in JNPT SEZ.

Water plan

• 15 MLD: Water supply to be made available for the units in JNPT SEZ.

Road

• The main road is of 60 meters width. Storm waters drain and streetlights will be erected in either side of the road. The internal road is of 45- and 30-meters width.

Other features

• The greenery ratio is at 20 percent of the total land area.
• The SEZ site has one gate and one emergency exit.
• The SEZ site is 5 km away from the container landing area of JNPT.
• Railway connectivity to other industrial areas (Panvel – JNPT)
• Sewage Treatment Plant is being developed by JNPT

Major infrastructure work completion was targeted till October 2020 to support the speedy operationalization of SEZ units / co-developers who take possession and construct simultaneously with JNPT SEZ infrastructure development work.

SEZ incentives

• Duty exemptions, tax exemptions, first time stamp duty and registration charges, zero GST, and FDI norm exemptions.
• Single window clearance for all the matters in co-ordination with the Development Commissioner (MoC, GoI) of JNPT SEZ.

Expression of Interest – how to up in the SEZ

• JNPT SEZ is reaching out to various investors to provide Expression of Interest/EOI (download here) to keep stock of the demand of the land plots to prepare tender of plots with different plot sizes to ensure participation of multiple investors in the e-tender process.
• Contact information: Mr Rajesh Phadke, Chief Architect & Planner (CA&P – JNPT SEZ), rajeshphadke@jnport.com / dulange@jnport.gov.in / jnptsez@jnport.com, 022 – 6781 / 2724 4632/24 (Office hours – 10 to 5 pm)

Ease of doing business – some reforms

Centralized Parking Plaza

JNPT has opened a new Centralized Parking Plaza (CPP) for container tractor trailers with customs facilitation to promote ease of doing business. The parking plaza is spread across 45 hectares and has a capacity to park 2,832 tractor trailers at a time.

The plaza has been built exclusively to integrate the parking of tractor trailers carrying factory export containers at one location instead of multiple locations. This will help integrate document processing by Customs.

Allotment of office space to government regulators for setting up testing laboratories and offices

To bring all regulators near the port area, JNPT has allotted office space to FSSAI, Animal Quarantine, Plant quarantine, Textile Commission, and the Drug Controller.

JNPT has also allotted land to FSSAI and Animal Quarantine, Plant quarantine, and Drug controller for setting up of laboratories. The Textile Committee has shifted its office and laboratory to the Port Users Building, JNPT.

Simplification of processes and digitization

• Under simplification of the process, JNPT commenced the inter-terminal movements and dispensed with seal checking by CISF at the Gate. The port also focused to increase direct port deliveries (DPD) and direct port entry (DPE).
• Under digitization, Form-13 and Form-11 have been made online. The RFID system is introduced for Gate access. Shipping Lines are facilitated by the upgraded PCS 1x platform (Indian Port Community System) for the issuance of e-DO (electronic delivery order).

State-wise location of India’s major and intermediate seaports

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