DP World stays firm on $5 billion India investment despite West Asia crisis | Company News

Despite global headwinds from the West Asia war and its core business in the region being hit, global ports and terminals giant DP World intends to follow through on its $5 billion investment commitment in India, a senior executive said.

According to the company’s recently declared interim results for the first half of 2026, it reported a drop of nearly 40 per cent in profits to $585 million in the first six months of the year.

“We hope this (West Asia war) will be solved soon which will bring down the cargo freight rates, which are a little high. It will then make sense for customers to trade normally. We have found avenues outside to diversify so that trade carries on,” Hemant Kumar Ruia, country manager, subcontinent (India), DP World, told reporters here.

The company is still finalising the avenues where it will invest this $5 billion, as it is evaluating areas, Ruia said. Around half a billion dollars will go towards its proposed facility in Tuna Tekra, a satellite port off the coast of Kandla in Gujarat.

The logistics company sees a five-year timeline for these investments to fructify. In October 2025, it had signed a slew of memoranda of understanding with public and private sector players in India.

The company was in the news in 2024 after it reportedly bid over five times the royalty internally assessed by the government when it floated the tender.

The company will also seek an extension of the concession period for its container terminal at Jawaharlal Nehru Port Authority, the concession period for which ends in 2027.

The Nhava Sheva International Container Terminal (NSICT) is India’s first private container terminal. Moreover, the 17-year concession period for the Nhava Sheva (India) Gateway Terminal Pvt Ltd ends in 2031.

“Every company wants an extension of the concession period,” said Ruia.

Moreover, the company intends to maintain its market share of 60 per cent in India’s coastal traffic and, if demand picks up, will consider increasing the fleet of its coastal service, Unifeeder.