The Hindu Business Line : PILs filed against JNPT terminal contract for Maersk-Concor

THREE public interest litigations (PILs) have been filed against the award of contract for developing a new container terminal at the Jawaharlal Nehru Port to the Maersk-Concor consortium, putting fresh hurdles in the Shipping Ministry's plan to finalise the tendering process.

The Shipping Secretary, Mr D.T. Joseph, apprehends that the award of the project may be delayed further if the court grants stay till the PIL is disposed of.

"We could have privatised the terminal two months ago but for the model code of conduct. I even met the Chief Election Commissioner and pleaded with him that this had nothing to do with the elections as the process was initiated much earlier. However, the CEC wanted us to wait till the elections were over," Mr Joseph told Business Line.

Now that the polls are over and a new Government is in place, it would like to take a look at the highest revenue share bid of 35.503 per cent quoted by the Maersk-Concor team before awarding the deal.

Before signing on the dotted line, the new Government may also want to take a good look at the concession agreement for the project, further delaying the project.

Despite allegations made by Mr Sharad Pawar (newly appointed Union Minister for Agriculture, Civil Supplies, Consumer Affairs and Public Distribution) during an election meeting in Mumbai that the award of the project compromised national security concerns and was being sold to a Danish company for a "pittance", the newly appointed Shipping Minister, Mr T.R. Baalu, is understood to be favourably inclined to clear the deal.

Two PILs have been filed in the Mumbai High Court and the third one in Nagpur where the Mumbai High Court has an extension.

One of the PILs has been filed by Mr Bhushan Patil, a trade union leader who is also on the board of trustees of JNPT, opposing the Government's policy to develop the new terminal with private investments instead of funding the project with the internal resources of the port.

The second PIL relates to the monopoly of Concor (part of the consortium that submitted the highest bid) over inland movement of containers.

The PIL filed in Nagpur court relates to national security concerns particularly with reference to the fears expressed by Mr Pawar during the election meeting.

The Mumbai High Court has already heard all the parties in the first two PILs, but has not given any direction so far. The PIL filed in Nagpur is expected to come up for hearing shortly.

Shipping Ministry officials had briefed Mr Baalu about the details of the tendering process and the highest bid. While the bid submitted by the Maersk-Concor consortium has been approved by the Finance Wing of the Ministry, a final approval from Mr Baalu is expected in the next few days.

While stating that he was opposed to the privatisation of Shipping Corporation of India, Mr Baalu had, however, said that he was open to inviting private investments, both domestic and foreign, in setting up cargo handling berths at major ports.

Ministry officials reckon that any further delay in awarding the project to the highest bidder would be detrimental to the country's interests as the new project would take two years to become operational.

"The country will suffer in the event of a delay. Where is the capacity? Where will you move the containers?" asks a senior official.

According to Mr Hans Ole Madsen, Managing Director, Maersk India Pvt Ltd, the award of the new container terminal at JNPT has been delayed due to elections.

"This being said we are confident that the official award will be executed now that the new Government is in place," Mr Madsen said.