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Santanu Sanyal

Haldia , Sept. 5

HALDIA Dock's berth number 4A, now under construction on BOT basis by International Seaports Pvt Ltd (ISPL), is to be commissioned in November, according to Mr M.L. Meena, Deputy Chairman of Kolkata Port Trust in charge of Haldia Dock Complex (HDC). "The progress of work is satisfactory," Mr Meena told Business Line here, adding, "L&T is doing a good job".

The 4A berth, which will have a capacity of three million tonnes, is estimated to cost Rs 200 crore. It will be used for handling dry bulk cargoes mainly for the Steel Authority of India Ltd (SAIL).

Once the berth is commissioned, SAIL will withdraw from the berth number 5 now being used by it. "We are examining how best the berth 5 can be used once it is freed from SAIL operations," said Mr Meena, indicating that tenders maybe floated to invite bids from firms interested in running it on operation and maintenance (O&M) basis.

Hindustan Lever Ltd, which also imports rock phosphate and sulphur through berth number 5 following an arrangement with SAIL, is believed to be interested in the continuation of the same arrangement even after the exit of SAIL from the berth. However, as the Deputy Chairman indicated, the arrangement with SAIL might not be acceptable to the dock authorities once SAIL shifted its operations to the new berth. HLL would be required to participate in the tender to be floated for the O&M contract.

Further, in 2002-2003, the total throughput of the berth 5 was 1.6 million tonnes of which HLL's share was a meagre 1.34 lakh tonnes (81,522 tonnes of sulphur and 52,463 tonnes of rock phosphate), or less than 10 per cent of the total throughput. Admittedly, HLL operates at other berths and its total cargo throughput at the dock is about five lakh tonnes annually.

TM International Logistics Ltd, a subsidiary of Tata Steel, has acquired berth number of 12 on a long-term lease. Despite the acquisition, the Tatas have no plans as yet to withdraw from berth number 8 where the company mainly handles imported coking coal. "This is because berth number 12 is supposed to handle only clean cargo and dirty cargo like coking coal will not be permitted to be handled there," Mr Meena said.

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