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Mony K. Mathew

Thiruvananthapuram , Jan. 18

THE Kerala Government will float a fresh tender inviting bids for the development of the proposed international container transhipment terminal at Vizhinjam, near here.

This has been necessitated in the wake of non-receipt of proposals from the seven companies, which had expressed their interest in the project and taken the request for proposal (RFP), by December 20, 2004, the last date fixed for the purpose.

The officials in the Department of Ports said that the fresh tender was intended to accommodate a few companies like Abu Dhabi Ports Authority, which had expressed interest in the project lately. This did not mean that the other companies were out of the picture.

It may be recalled that the seven companies, including three foreign entities, had refrained from submitting the techno-economic bids on the ground that some of the clauses in the RFP were disadvantageous to them. They wanted some changes in the project structure.

The officials said that the department would have discussions with the representatives of these companies by this month-end to elicit their suggestions. The RFP will be modified to incorporate these suggestions if they are found feasible and not at variance with the Government's interests. The new entrants into the fray will also be given the modified RFP.

The last date for submitting the proposals had earlier been extended twice from August 31 last year to October 15 and again to December 20. The department officials had explained that this was due to the several clarifications sought by the bidders from time to time on various financial parameters.

They kept themselves from submitting the proposals even after revising the last date as they wanted further relaxations in the various clauses, the officials said. They had cited the greenfield nature of the project, the long gestation period, the huge cost factor and the complex profile of the transhipment business to support their demands.

Some of the relaxations sought by the companies pertained to risk-sharing and capacity-building parameters contained in the project structure.

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