The Hindu Business Line : Advisor for cruise terminal project: Kochi port gets 5 bids

AS many as five firms have submitted their bids for consultancy services for setting up an international cruise terminal at the Kochi port. With this, one of the much-coveted integrated development plans of the Kochi port is poised to materialise.

Earlier, 18 bidders had responded to the expression of interest (EoI) floated for consultancy services. Of these, five firms have submitted bid documents on the due date.

The firms are: Consulting Engineering Services (I) Pvt Ltd, New Delhi; Stup Consultants (P) Ltd, Navi Mumbai; L&T RAMBOLL Consulting Engineers Ltd, Chennai; KITCO, Kochi; and Jafza International, Jebel Ali, UAE.

The Port Chairman, Dr Jacob Thomas, told Business Line that the bids - both technical and financial — were invited under a two-cover system, which would be scrutinised by the senior tender committee of the port. Once the technical evaluation is over, the price bids of the technically qualified bidders would be opened. The entire exercise up to finally awarding the contract would be completed by mid January, he said.

The size and phases of investment in the cruise service, finding a suitable location for the cruise terminal and identification of Kochi's potential and its enhancement would be the major tasks before the consultant, he said, adding that the port had taken all efforts to strengthen its growing reputation as a cruise destination.

Kochi is among the major ports in the country that will gain significantly from a recent decision by the Union Ministry of Shipping, Road Transport and Highways to formulate a national policy on cruise shipping, he added.

The Chairman, who was in Delhi recently to attend a meeting on cruise policy, said that a move in this direction gives a fresh impetus to the port's initiative to set up a world-class terminal that would exclusively service cruise vessels. The Shipping Ministry has set up a core committee to draft the policy and prepare a roadmap to tap what has been described as India's immense potential for cruise tourism, he said.

The port, he said considers cruise as a major business prospect and is gearing up to provide world-class services. In this connection, it had constituted a cruise cell to meet services round the clock, set up a single window facility to meet the cruise service requirements and also provide concessional rates for servicing cruise ships.

Setting up of a golf course of global standards in the port area is also in the agenda to attract international tourists, he said.

It may be recalled that Kochi port, along with four other ports on the West Coast, had recently joined the Cruise Indian Ocean Association (CIOA), based in Kenya.

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