Ennore port to finalise bidders for new terminal

22 domestic and international bidders to build the Rs 1,300 crore container terminal inside the port, which will have an annual capacity of 1.5 million Twenty Equivalent Units (TEUs).

Speaking to Business Standard S Velumani, chairman and managing director said that, till Tuesday, the last date for submission of initial bids, 22 bidders have applied. The port will will select only six bidders to submit financial bids for the facility. The six bidders are likely to be selected in the three weeks.

Once short-listing process is over request for proposal (RFP) and investment documents will be sent for public-private partnership (PPP) approval to the cabinet and finance ministry.

Bidders for the new terminal include Gammon Infrastructure Projects, Vedanta Resources, PSA International of Singapore, Hyundai Merchant Marine and Samsung Heavy Industries.

Velumani said work on the project would commence in the next six to seven months. The terminal is likely to start operations by mid-2011. The project will be built on the PPP model.

The port is also planning to build a four-lane road linking the new terminal with NH-V. The National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) had prepared the project report and was awaiting the shipping ministry's clearance. This will help free movement to and from the container terminal, Velumani said.

The new terminal will come with 125 acres of container yard adjoining the kilometre-wide berth, which Velumani claimed was the first of its kind in the country.

Once the terminal starts operations, it will be able to simultaneously handle three mainline vessels with capacities of 8,000 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) each, as well as four feeder vessels. The terminal was expected to handle around 1.5 million TEUs in its first year of operations, he added.