NOL joint venture wins approval for rail freight services in India

NOL joint venture wins approval for rail freight services in India    Neptune Orient Lines, the Singapore-based owners of APL, have been granted an approval “in principle” from the government of India to operate freight rail services in the booming South Asian country.
   In February, the Indian Parliament approved a proposal to privatize the country’s rail freight services, which have been controlled by a government-owned monopoly, CONCOR.
   The approval was granted to NOL’s joint venture company India Infrastructure and Logistics Pvt Ltd. (IIL), and will permit the company to run unlimited trains on all India routes, for an initial period of 20 years, which is extendable by another 10 years.
   NOL has started ILL in partnership with Hindustan Infrastructure Projects & Engineering Pvt Ltd. (HIPE), controlled by Rajeev Chandrasekhar. Cedric Foo, NOL Group deputy president, is chairman of ILL.
   “India has the attributes and potential to become the next Asian manufacturing hub. What has prevented India from realizing this potential is an underinvestment in infrastructure. That is why the Indian government is seeking private equity participation to hasten the pace of infrastructure development,” Foo said.
   “NOL is grateful to the Indian government for this investment opportunity and is committed to the growth of India,” Foo said. “We have considerable experience operating freight rail services. Our APL subsidiary pioneered double-stack trains in the U.S. in 1984. Although the U.S. investment was sold in 1999, we retain considerable managerial and IT expertise in this business.
   “By investing in landside facilities, we will complement and differentiate our liner services in India, and at the same time develop a new stream of logistics income for the group,” Foo said.
   “This marks HIPE’s first investment in the transportation sector. The transportation sector is an important focus area for us and so is our partnership with NOL,” Chandrasekhar said.
   “APL is aiming to tap opportunities to better serve the fast-growing Indian manufacturing sector, by offering seamless end-to-end transportation and logistics services to our customers,” said Kenneth Glenn, NOL Group senior vice president for South Asia. “Land transportation in India is characterized by infrastructure ‘chokepoints,’ and our investment in rail services is part of a larger commitment in developing new landside capabilities to meet our customers’ needs for an integrated and seamless liner and logistics service.
   “We look forward to the APL brand becoming a visible presence on rail wagons moving across India,” Glenn said.