The Hindu Business Line : Ennore box terminal: Five consortiums, APM shortlisted

Two Indian consortiums in the fray are Gammon Infrastructure Projects has tied up with Dragados Servicious, Portuarilou Logisticos and Leighton Contract India Ltd.

T.E. Raja Simhan

Chennai, June 30 Ennore Port Ltd has shortlisted five consortiums and an international container terminal operator in the RFQ (request for qualification) stage for developing a container terminal at Ennore at an estimated cost of Rs 1,300 crore.

The short-listed companies, from a list of around 40 applicants, will now move on to the RFP (request for proposal) stage.

APM Terminals B V, an international container terminal operator, has bid on its own, while the rest in the fray are biding as consortiums, according to the sources.

Group Maritime JCBSL has partnered with Obrascon Huarte Lain SA, GE Mauritius International Holdings and Eredene Holding Capital Plc.

An interesting combination was the consortium of three shipping lines — NYK Line, Evergreen Marine, Hyundai Marine — partnering with ZIM Port.

There are two Indian consortiums in the fray. Gammon Infrastructure Projects has tied up with Dragados Servicious, Portuarilou Logisticos and Leighton Contract India Ltd. Larsen & Toubro has joined hands with John Keels Holdings.

The surprise bidder in the list was Sterlite Industries along with Eurogate and KG Mota-Engle, said sources.

Missing names

Prominent names missing in the list are DP World and Port of Singapore Authority – both strong in the Indian container terminal operations, especially the South.

Environment clearance

The terminal, which got environmental clearance last year, will have a quay length of 1,000 metre and a capacity to handle around 1.50 million TEUs (20-foot equivalent units).

Work on the terminal is likely to commence before the year-end, and will be built on build, operate and transfer basis for a concession period of 30 years, said sources.

Bigger terminal

The terminal will be designed to facilitate berthing of at least 8,000 TEU capacity vessels.

The licensee of the terminal has the option to consider the terminal design to suit the future ultra large container ships.

Initially, the port will provide (-)15 metre water depths at the berths. The terminal is proposed on the western side of the harbour basin with a continuous berthing face in the north-south orientation.

World class facility

A report on Coordination of Business Plans Major Ports in India prepared by the Port of Rotterdam says that Ennore has the potential to become a world class facility on the condition that careful long-term planning is taken into account.

Ennore is seen as a potential container port in the South next to the established centre Chennai. The Port of Ennore is the only corporatised major port in the country.

The port is connected to the national highways NH4, NH5 and NH45 without entering into the populated Chennai city area, the report added.