Financial Daily from THE HINDU group of publications
Wednesday, Feb 08, 2006
Financial Daily from THE HINDU group of publications Wednesday, Feb 08, 2006 |
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Logistics
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Shipping Mumbai Port box terminal project may be delayed over Hutchison clearance Mamuni Das
New Delhi , Feb. 7 THE offshore container terminal project at Mumbai Port may again get delayed as the security clearance for Hutchison Port Holdings, which has bid jointly with L&T, is yet to be communicated to the Mumbai Port authorities. The bidding process that started off with the first pre-bid meeting between the bidders and the Mumbai Port Authorities in early August 2005 was expected to move a step further on February 10, which is the last date for accepting bids, as on date. During the last few months, the last date for the acceptance of bids has changed several times. After the first pre-bid meeting with bidders, the bidding date was fixed at around November 2-4, 2005. This was shifted to November 28 at the request of some bidders during the second pre-bid meeting in October. But even after November 28, the last date has been shifted thrice at the Government's instance — to December 15, 2005, January 9, 2006 and February 10, 2006. The shift was required on account of delay in acquiring security clearances for certain entities. A security clearance was sought for all the bidders aiming to build and operate the container terminal, keeping in view the close proximity of the proposed terminal to the naval base in Mumbai. As on date, security clearances for ten out of 11 bidders who have qualified are in place with Mumbai Port Trust. In fact, the clearance for Taiwan-based Evergreen Marine was communicated to the Mumbai Port as recently as January 6. While L&T has been accorded the clearance as an individual entity, it has to bid with a player with prior experience in port management, for which it has tied up with Hutchison. Other players whose security clearances have been accorded include Mitsui OSK, L&T, P&O Ports; consortium of United Liner Agencies of India Pvt Ltd and SSLA GmbH, Germany; consortium of Gammon India, Gammon Infrastructure and Dragados of Italy; ABG Heavy Industries and ILFS, Dubai Port International, Evergreen Marine, Adani Exports and AP Moller Finance SA. "With just three days before the last date, either the process goes on without the bid of Hutchision-L&T or the deadline may be shifted again," said an official. The project, at an estimated cost of Rs 1,228 crore, involves setting up of two offshore container berths with a total length of 700 metres. They would help handle vessels with 6,000 TEU containers.
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