Adani plans bunkering hub in Gulf of Kutch

AHMEDABAD: Even as the basic port infrastructure is getting a fillip, Indian companies are now looking at the high-margin port support services like bunkering or re-fuelling facilities, . Adani Bunkering Services, part of the Adani Exports, is hoping to create a bunkering hub in the high-traffic region of Gulf of Kutch.

Adani’s will be the first Indian company to start such facilities even for ships in the high-seas, thereby opening up a market for re-fuelling of ships not anchoring at the Mundra Port. “We will receive the first ship for high-seas bunkering later this month and second vessel in February,” Chandan P Samaiyar, head (Bunkering), Adani Enterprises told ET.

High industrialisation in the western coast of Gujarat has fuelled the opportunities in bunkering. “The Gulf of Kutch sees high traffic of over 2,800 vessels and going forward a lot of projects involving refineries and SEZs are coming up in the region, which will increase the traffic in the gulf in coming years,” Mr Samaiyar said.