# Kamarajar Port floats Rs 4,288-crore tender for second container terminal 2026-08-21T02:11:57+00:00 | Governance | Indian Opinion Desk Corroboration: 1 independent outlet Kamarajar Port Limited has issued a tender for its second container terminal, estimated at Rs 4,288 crore, under the public-private partnership (PPP) model. The terminal, to be developed on a Design, Build, Finance, Operate and Transfer (DBFOT) basis with a 40-year concession, aims to handle 2 million TEUs per annum in two phases. Phase I, costing Rs 2,429 crore, will add 1.1 million TEUs, while Phase II adds 0.9 million TEUs at Rs 1,858.94 crore. The facility will include a 900-metre continuous quay capable of berthing Ultra Large Container Carriers of up to 24,346 TEUs. The scope covers pile berths, container yards, roads, buildings, and equipment including Ship-to-Shore gantry cranes and Rubber Tyred Gantry Cranes. Kamarajar Port, 24 km north of Chennai, handled 49.08 million tonnes in FY2025-26 and has highway and rail connectivity. The selected concessionaire must design, finance, construct, operate, and maintain the terminal. Land will be provided on an as-is-where-is basis, and assets will transfer back to the port after 40 years. The tender was published on August 20, 2026. ## Indian Opinion Analysis Kamarajar Port, formerly Ennore Port, was India’s first corporatised port and has grown into the country’s third busiest container gateway. Chennai Port, just 24 km south, handles roughly 3 million TEUs annually and is already running at near capacity, making this greenfield second terminal essential for decongesting the region. The new terminal’s Phase I target of 1.1 million TEUs aims to capture overflow EXIM cargo and some of the transshipment business that currently goes to Colombo, Singapore, or Port Klang. The real test will be bidder interest: the 40-year DBFOT concession demands large upfront capital, and past PPPs in Indian ports have seen tepid response. Kamarajar’s position strengthens if the Centre finalises the proposed Chennai, Bengaluru, Kochi industrial corridor, which would feed this terminal. Watch the bid submission deadline: the tender documents call for responses by the third week of October. ## Coverage - thehindubusinessline.com Leads with tender call and project details, no government praise or criticism, neutral-report This story was synthesised by AI from the source linked above. Tags: Chennai, DBFOT, Kamarajar Port Canonical: https://indianopinion.org/kamarajar-port-floats-rs-4288-crore-tender-for-second-container-terminal/ License: Summary and commentary (c) Indian Opinion, reusable with attribution. Facts belong to the linked sources. Cite: https://indianopinion.org/kamarajar-port-floats-rs-4288-crore-tender-for-second-container-terminal/#story-in-brief Review state: restored archive article, accurate at time of publication, not offered to search indexes. How this brief was made: an AI model read the report linked above and wrote this summary and analysis, which were published automatically. Published briefs are sampled every hour by an automated quality check; the editor verifies its findings and approves corrections, and corrected briefs carry a dated correction line. We do no original reporting. Methodology: https://indianopinion.org/ai-use-policy/