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Photo: Adani
An upcoming Indian tender for the development of a second container terminal at Ennore Port, near Chennai, has caught the eye of major global box lines seeking to cement their operations in the emerging economy.
Ennore, also known as Kamarajar, is one of India’s 12 major or government ports and in recent years has made steady volume gains as congestion or productivity issues plagued Chennai Port.
The Ennore authority has reportedly finalised plans to seek bids to build its new box project, on a design, build, finance, operate and transfer (DBFOT) model through private participation.
Estimated to cost some $450m, current plans envision a 1,000-metre quay and a capacity of 2m teu on completion.
“The project is on track,” a port source told The Loadstar.
“We are targeting to complete the tender work by the end of the year,” the source added.
According to industry sources, CMA CGM and Hapag-Lloyd, along with its Indian partner, JM Baxi Group, could be potential bidders for Ennore’s planned expansion.
Adani Ports (APSEZ) operates the sole box facility at Ennore (pictured above) and, according to industry sources, the private conglomerate is unlikely to get regulatory approval to bid on the new development scheme as the country’s established competition rules do not encourage a monopolistic operational environment in the public port sector.
That’s because Ennore has no other competing box terminal operator.
In late 2023, MSC via subsidiary TiL became a joint-venture partner in AECTPL after acquiring a 49% stake in the project from APSEZ, consolidating its inland footprint in India.
It remains to be seen if MSC will also face competition law hurdles for potential participation in the new Ennore project.
The Adani Ennore terminal (AECTPL) began operations in 2018 on a 30-year concession, equipped with a 400-metre quay and an 800,000 teu annual capacity. Phase 2 development could see capacity increase to 1.4m teu, according to available information.
India’s east coast has historically been served exclusively by a feeder vessels, but the launch of a direct Europe service by Maersk in 2021 boosted business prospects for Ennore, followed by Gemini calls on the same tradelane from February 2025.
According to Xeneta’s eeSea liner database, the terminal currently hosts two deepsea services – Gemini’s India-Europe loop and the Europe-India/Middle East-Oceania NewMo/AES service jointly operated by CMA CGM and MSC – as well as four feeder strings.
AECTPL saw some 701,000 teu in the Indian fiscal year 2025-26, up from 681,000 teu the year before.
The pace of growth has continued into 2026-27, racking up some 122,000 teu in April/May, a 30% year-on-year jump, provisional data shows.
The Indian port market has become an attractive investment proposition for bigger carriers – MSC and CMA CGM already have flagship terminals partnerships with APSEZ at Mundra.
Additionally, CMA CGM holds a terminal concession at Nhava Sheva (JNPA) in partnership with JM Baxi Group.
However, there are also emerging concerns that India’s east coast region is increasingly oversupplied in terms of terminal capacity, with the emergence of more minor and private ports, including Kattupalli and Gangavaram, both owned by Adani.
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