NEW DELHI, July 3: The Port Trust and Nhava Sheva International Container Terminal Ltd (NSCIT), a consortium led by P&O Australia signed an agreement on Thursday for setting up a Rs 700 crore container terminal at the Jawaharlal Nehru Port.

JNPT had received global bids for the project in August last year. The bid of P&O Australia had the highest net present value of Rs 224.59 crore.Surface transport minister T G Venkatraman said the government was seeking to double the capacity of the country's major ports over the next five years.

He said the government has been constantly urging the private parties to come forward and participate in the programmes announced for the port sector. Today, the government's aim is to sign one agreement providing for private participation every month, he said.

The new terminal to be built and equipped within 36 months will double the capacity of the port for handling containers from five lakh units to more than one million units per year by 2000.

Copyright © 1997 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.