JSW Infrastructure will bid for the multiple terminals that are being offered by the government as part of a privatisation drive under the public-private-partnership model, people aware of the development said.
The company is currently participating in tenders for terminals in Goa, Haldia, Kandla, Ennore and Vizag, among others, and will be prioritising container, liquid and gas terminals as it looks to focus on connectivity and value addition for customers.
“Increasing the last-mile connectivity for the customer and value addition, these will be the priority for the company,” one of the people said.
“They are also looking at container freight station and multi-modal logistics parks, which can help in improving the core business and increase stickiness of customers,” another person said.
The second-largest operator of ports in the country, which has for long been in the captive business, has also ventured into third-party businesses over the last four-five years.
Queries sent to JSW Infra were unanswered at the time of going to the press Sunday.
The company’s balance sheet is strong enough to sustain these bids, the people said. It has also bid for a port in Karnataka but is yet to be awarded the project.
JSW Infra, which currently has 158 mt of capacity, plans to increase that to 300 mt by 2030, the company told analysts in a meeting last week. This capacity expansion will entail a capital expenditure of around ₹13,000 crore and will largely be funded by the company’s free cash flows.
Part of the Sajjan Jindal-owned JSW Group, JSW Infra is looking to raise ₹2,800 crore through the primary market with a fresh issue of shares. The company, whose issue will open for subscription Monday, has allotted 105.9 million shares to anchor investors. It has raised ₹1,260 crore from these investors, who include a mix of domestic mutual funds and sovereign wealth funds including GIC and Fullerton.
