DP World to invest $26m in Indian state of Telangana

Last month, the global ports operator announced an investment of $510 million in Gujarat

DP World’s first-half profit jumped 33 per cent from a year earlier on higher revenue. Reuters

Global ports operator DP World will invest 2.15 billion rupees ($25.8 million) in the logistics and warehousing sector in the state of Telangana, an Indian minister has announced.

Dubai-based DP World will expand its operations in the south Indian state by investing 1.65 billion rupees for its inland container depot operation in Hyderabad, the capital city of Telangana, the state's Minister for IT and Industries Kalvakuntla Rao said.

It will also spend 500 million rupees to set up a cold storage warehouse with a capacity of 5,000 pallets in the Medchal area.

“An international logistics giant like DP World expanding its operations will bolster the state's logistics sector. The Telangana government will extend the required support to the DP World,” Mr Rao wrote on X, formerly Twitter.

Mr Rao, who is currently on a visit to the UAE, met Anil Mohta, DP World’s executive vice president, and Saloosh Shastree, director for project development, to explore potential partnerships.

Sultan bin Sulayem, group chairman and chief executive of DP World, said the move will “enhance the flow of trade” for customers.

“This investment will further strengthen India's logistics infrastructure to make the country one of the next great logistics powerhouses, with the sector set to grow to $380 billion by 2025,” he said in a LinkedIn post on Thursday.

DP World is expanding its investments in India, the world’s most populous nation.

Last month, it announced an investment of $510 million to develop and operate a new mega-container terminal in the Indian state of Gujarat as part of the concession agreement signed with the Deendayal Port Authority earlier this year.

The company’s first-half profit jumped 33 per cent from a year earlier on higher revenue, despite a weaker container shipping market and lower sea-freight rates.

Profit attributable to owners of the company on a like-for-like basis in the six months to the end of June increased to $651 million, DP World said last month.

The company said it plans to add about three million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) of container-handling capacity by the end of the year to help meet growing demand in key trade markets.