P&O merger is top on Dubai Port’s agenda
For Ganesh Raj, it’s almost like a home-coming. The man, who joined Dubai Ports World (DP World) in the Middle East a couple of years ago, has now moved back to India as senior vice-president and managing director (West Asia & East Africa Region).
By Anto T Joseph, TNN |
For Ganesh Raj, it’s almost like a home-coming. The man, who joined Dubai Ports World (DP World) in the Middle East a couple of years ago, has now moved back to India as senior vice-president and managing director (West Asia & East Africa Region).
The fastest growing port operator in the world, which took over P&O Ports at the end of ’05, is now the largest private container terminal operator in the Indian sub-continent. Mr Raj has seven container terminals under his jurisdiction, while many other new projects are currently under implementation.
His main challenge will be to manage the highly sensitive takeover and bring about a smooth merger of the two culturally-diverse entities. And of course, calm a few ruffled feathers in the ministry and the central and state governments.
For DP World, India is a high priority market. The terminals in the country, especially the Nhava Sheva terminal, are definitely cash cows for the group. The first private container terminal at Nhava Sheva, which is now part of DP World, post-P&O Ports takeover, was once known as the jewel in the UK port operator’s crown. Terminals in the Indian sub-continent were contributing a mighty 40% to P&O’s profit kitty, and were the most sought-after in the high-voltage takeover.
Mr Raj, who worked with P&O Ports in India before his current assignment, has got a firm grip on the domestic port sector. An engineering graduate from Bangalore University, he pursued studies in port management in Rotterdam. In 1988, he joined India’s largest container port — Jawaharlal Nehru Port, and in 1990, moved to the Danish AP Moller Group as terminal manager at Nhava Sheva.
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Subsequently, he joined P&O, and moved to Chennai in September ’01 when P&O Ports won new concession at Chennai Port to build a container terminal. The terminal went operational on November 30, ’01, under his supervision, and he had won kudos for the operational progress and enhanced performance.Almost four years down the line, he quit P&O Ports and set his foot in DP World in March ’04. When the group took over P&O, the management didn’t think twice to send him back to India to take charge. “Raj’s vast experience in the liner and port industries has provided him with a unique capability to identifying potential projects and managing them through to successful completion,” says Mohammed Saraf, chief executive of DP World.
Mr Raj is now steering the DP World’s course in the country. In order to stay away from the controversies over the P&O takeover, Mr Raj wants to continue with the existing brand names till such time the integration panel decides on the strategy of bringing about a synergy.
“P&O Ports is a strong brand name in India, and each business unit here is promoted as a separate entity. You have got Nhava Sheva International Container Terminal, Mundra International Container Terminal, India Gateway Terminal, and these are all individual business units and branded separately,” says Mr Raj. “Each of these business units operates as independent profit centre, and there is no question of changing the structure,” he says.
Mr Raj has strong convictions about a people-led organisation. “I strongly believe that organisations are built by people,” he said. This may be also one of the reasons why he seems undaunted by poaching worries, a perennial problem faced by the industry.
Unlike many port analysts suspected initially, DP World is unlikely to change its course in India, and all proposed investments in Kochi and Kulpi (West Bengal) are underway. Mr Raj is now trying to integrate the existing services with an array of new projects.
“DP World’s core competency lies in port and terminal operations. It provides a very unique feature of being able to bring onto the table various other aspects of the business which ranges all the way from operating general cargo, operating bulk cargo, managing SEZs, container freight stations, inland container depots and free trade zones. These are all DP World’s strengths because we have successfully implemented them at different places,” he says.
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Mr Raj is optimistic about the growth in India’s port sector. “India is a huge challenging market. Existing port capacities in India are pretty inadequate even for two years’ cargo growth. What India needs is growth and I do not really care from where it comes from. India has a lot of catching up to do,” he adds.
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