APM Terminals Pushes Solar Energy in India

South Asia's APM Terminals Inland Services, operator of port and integrated inland service networks, is helping set up solar power plants in deep pockets of India.

The global terminal network company is providing tailor-made logistics solutions to help overcome transport, technical and procedural challenges.

The company is now offering a new end-to-end solution for major solar projects, which includes receiving cargo at the sea-port, facilitating customs inspection and clearance, multi-modal transportation to reach these isolated areas and destuffing at the site.

“Back in 2015, solar power was just beginning to catch everybody's attention and imports from China were picking up at a tremendous pace. To date, we have handled more than 15 large projects from most of the leading solar players, covering over 10,500 acres of land," said Ajit Venkataraman, MD, APM Terminals Inland Services, South Asia.

"We realised that the solar sector players needed a trusted logistics partner capable of understanding and addressing business complexities. We then developed tailor-made solutions that relieved the customer from hassle, technicalities and legalities."

India aims to have 100 GW of solar energy capacity by 2022 and has been working towards achieving this goal in recent years - a challenging task which aims to get four times the current installed solar capacity.

"It is about reaching the destination, especially when there are no or bad roads. For instance, one of the recent installation sites is in Rajasthan across the Thar desert," said Venkataraman.

APM Terminals Inland Services has made solar deliveries across states like Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, other regions in Central India and even over the Thar desert. These deliveries have been taken and solar panels handled from the ports of Chennai, Mundra, Vizag and Krishnapatnam.