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An equal joint venture between state-run oil refiners Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd (BPCL) and Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd (HPCL) has won the rights to develop and run a liquid terminal at Kamarajar Port Ltd near Chennai.
The consortium — the only group to put in a price bid on a public tender — was awarded the ₹393-crore, 3-million-tonne (mt) capacity project a few days ago, a spokesman for the port said. The BPCL-HPCL consortium had quoted a revenue share of 23 per cent for the new facility which seeks to tap into the growing demand for POL, LPG products and Lube Oil Base stock (LOBS) in bulk in Tamil Nadu and neighbouring States. The terminal is expected to start operations in 2020-21.
Kamarajar Port Ltd, the entity that runs the port at Ennore, is among the 12 ports owned by the Central government and the only one to be run as a company. The other ports are run as trusts. Cargo contracts at Central government-run ports were till now decided on the basis of revenue share — the entity willing to share the most from its annual revenue will win the deal, typically lasting 30 years.
Bids for new projects will be decided on the basis of the highest royalty per metric tonne or twenty-foot equivalent unit (TEU) handled which would be indexed to variations in the wholesale price index (WPI).
This will replace the method of charging royalty which is equal to the percentage of gross revenue, quoted during bidding, calculated on the basis of upfront normative tariff ceiling prescribed by Tariff Authority for Major Ports (TAMP), the rate regulator for the major ports.
When commissioned, the HPCL-BPCL facility will be the second liquid terminal at Kamarajar Port. Ennore Tank Terminals Pvt Ltd, the entity led by IMC Ltd, runs a 3-mt capacity liquid terminal at the port from 2009.
State-owned Indian Oil Corporation Ltd (IOCL) is developing a captive oil jetty at Kamarajar Port to handle POL, LPG and LOBS with an investment of ₹480 crore. The facility is also expected to start operations in 2020-21.
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