Essar Ports has signed a 30-year concession agreement with the Government of Mozambique to develop a new coal terminal at Beira Port, as part of a Public Private Partnership (PPP) project. The project will be executed on Design, Build, Own, Operate and Transfer (DBOOT) basis through a subsidiary, New Coal Terminal Beira, SA (NCTB SA), a joint venture of Essar which will own 70 per cent and Portos e Caminhos de Ferro de Mo?ambique (CFM), which will own 30 per cent. The project will enhance the coal handling capacity of Mozambique by 20 MTPA in two phases of 10 MTPA each.

Mozambique is estimated to have reserves of over 23 billion tonne of coal, which makes the country a major coal exporter that is well placed to cater to the international steel and power industries, especially in India, China, Japan and Korea. The NCTB has dedicated rail connectivity to Mozambique?s coal mining belt in the Tete region, which CFM has recently enhanced to a capacity of 20 MTPA. The first phase of this project will be developed at a cost of about $275 million and will entail developing dedicated berths, along with state-of-the-art, mechanised and environment-friendly systems. Once operations commence, substantial direct and indirect employment opportunities will be created for the country?s citizens through downstream production and expansion in the supplier and service industry.

Rajiv Agarwal, CEO and Managing Director, Essar Ports, said, ?We would like to congratulate the Government of Mozambique for this initiative and for partnering with Essar on such a prestigious national-level project. It will not only boost coal exports from Mozambique and strengthen its economy, but also deliver significant direct and indirect benefits.?