Nissan inks 10-year export agreement with Ennore Port

Chennai: Nissan Motor India, the Indian unit of Japanese auto maker Nissan Motor Co Ltd, today entered into an agreement with Ennore Port Ltd (EPL), according to which it will export at least 60,000 cars a year through the port for the next 10 years.

According to the agreement, signed here today in the presence of Union Shipping Minister G K Vasan, Nissan will get concessions in the wharfage for up to 60,000 cars a year at the rate of 0.36 per cent for every unit. Its cars will be offered free parking space for the first 15 days and will be handled in priority basis in the port.

Nissan exported 54,000 cars in 2010-11, which were increased to 96,000 in 2011-12 and further to 98,000 in 2012-13. In the first quarter of the current financial year (April-June), the company shipped out 14,000 cars.

The company is selling cars in about 100 countries, said Kenichiro Yomura, managing director and chief executive, Nissan Motor India. It hopes to maintain around 100,000 units per annum for exports.

M A Bhaskarachar, chairman and managing director of EPL, said Nissan would get benefits ranging between 10 per cent and 40 per cent of a car value (sliding rates or volume discount). The port, located about 40 km north of Chennai, has developed a general cargo-cum-car terminal at a cost of Rs 140 crore, including a car yard of 35 acres, facilitating the parking of 10,000 cars.

The agreement can be terminated by both parties with a notice of three months from either side. In 2008, Nissan had signed a memorandum of understanding with EPL without any commitment of exports. Nissan was the first exporter of cars since 2010 from the port, which handled about 336,000 cars till now. The port can handle up to 300,000 units a year.

Port to scale down fund-raising plan
Ennore Port Ltd has decided to scale down its fund-raising plan. The port, which originally planned to raise Rs 1,000 crore through tax bonds, decided to raise only Rs 500 crore, said M A Bhaskarachar, chairman and managing director. The port is waiting for the government’s notification, which it hopes to get in two to three months. The funds to be raised would be used to buy 700 acres from the salt department land in and around the Port for future expansions and other activities, he added.