Yahoo Finance

Container shipping competitors HMM, CMA CGM and Ocean Network Express (ONE) have also signed memorandums with the JNPA to invest in areas within the megaport.

Maersk’s footprint in India includes two APM Terminals operations in Mumbai and Pipavav that facilitate the throughput of over 3 million containers every year, as well as 26 warehouses spread across 3.8 million square feet. In total, that distribution network reaches more than 80 percent of India’s PIN codes—the country’s equivalent to a U.S. ZIP code.

Chris Cook, Maersk’s managing director for South Asia, told the Economic Times that the company would explore the potential and feasibility of investing in dedicated air freighters and partnerships in the green fuel segment in India.

Over the past year, India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi has made it a point to catapult the country’s maritime logistics and shipbuilding capabilities as part of larger ambitions for India to become a developed economy by 2047.

The country has set a goal to become a top 10 shipbuilding nation by 2030, with an even loftier expectation to crack the top five upon reaching “developed” status. According to KPMG, India’s potential commercial shipbuilding market could reach $62 billion by 2047.

To generate the capital to realize this vision, India is setting up a 250-billion-rupee ($2.9-billion) maritime development fund for the long-term financing of the country’s shipbuilding and repair industry.

The government will contribute up to 49 percent of the fund, while the rest is expected to come from major port authorities, the private sector, pension funds and other foreign investors.

In line with the maritime fund and the Vadhvan expansion, India is seeking to scale its other national ports.

While Jawaharlal Nehru Port, also known as Nhava Sheva Port, handled container volume of 7.05 million TEUs in 2024, the gateway is looking to expand to handle 10 million TEUs by 2027.

Multiple construction projects are currently taking place at Nhava Sheva, including the second phase of the port’s Bharat Mumbai container terminal. That expansion is expected to add another 2.4 million TEUs to the port’s total capacity. The JNPA is also building out capacity at the Nhava Sheva Freeport Terminal.

And India’s largest container handling hub, Mundra Port, got regulatory approval in June to double capacity to 514 million metric tons. Mundra now has capacity to handle 9.5 million TEUs annually.

The privately owned port’s operator, Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone Limited (APSEZ), is injecting $5.2 billion into the project.