SINGAPORE's PSA International is selling 26 per cent of its share in its Chennai port container terminal to a consortium partner ABG Ports Pvt Ltd, with which it shares Mumbai's Jawaharlal Nehru Port.

Chennai, India's second container port after Mumbai, has two box terminals run by DP World and PSA International with a total annual capacity of 2.8 million TEU.

PSA International's terminal has an annual capacity of 1.5 million TEU with current throughput at 400,000 TEU. It has invested INR60 million (US$108 million) in building the facility for an operating period to run over 30 years.

Following government approval, PSA is to sell the stake to ABG Ports three years after its holding company ABG Infralogistics sold its 11.8 per cent in the terminal operator firm named Chennai International Terminals.

The Singapore terminal operator also bought back a 27 per cent stake from its Indian partner Sical Logistics Ltd also, leading to 100 per cent ownership.

It holds 49 per cent in ABG's container terminals in union state-owned Kandla and Kolkata at investment costs of US$63.15 million. This adds to its Jawaharlal Nehru Port investment of $1.2 billion in a facility to handle 4.8 million TEU. It also runs a terminal at state-run Tutiocorin, Tamil Nadu within port of VO Chidambaranar.