Five bids for new Haldia cargo operation, selection by Jan-end

The Kolkata Port Trust has received bids from five consortiums for installation of a floating cargo handling facility at Haldia.

ABG-LDA Bulk Handling & ABG Infralogistics, Five Star Logistics & Sea Port Logistics, International Seaports (Haldia) Pvt. Ltd. & PFS Shipping, Jakhau Salt Company & Core Minerals and ABC India & Esskay Shipping have put in bids.

“We are evaluating the technical parameters of the five bidders. By the end of this month, the project will be awarded,” M L Meena, chairman, Kolkata Port Trust, told Business Standard.

Haldia is 100 km south of Kolkata, but is part of the Kolkata Port complex. It was developed as a major trade port for Kolkata, intended mainly for bulk cargo.

The new facility will improve the performance of Kolkata port but also pose a competition to Dhamra port in Orissa.

Presently, a large number of Haldia-bound vessels anchor at Sagar and the cargo is transported to and from Haldia by barges. Due to draft restrictions at Haldia, these operations will grow, once the floating facility starts operations.

The public-private partnership project, valued at around Rs 25 crore, is expected to be completed by August 2011.

According to experts, if Kolkata Port manages to increase its operational efficiency, it will have some impact on the business handled by the nearby Dhamra port, a non-major private one.

“The new floating cargo handling facility will pose competition to about 20 per cent of Dhamra cargo, especially cooking coal imports,” said Vishwas Udgirkar, senior director, Deloitte.

The Dhamra Port Company Ltd is a 50:50 joint venture of Larsen & Toubro and Tata Steel, located between Haldia and Paradip, both major ports.

Dhamra is mostly dependant on cooking coal imports and iron ore exports. Its cooking coal imports cater to Jamshedpur and the rest to Steel Authority of India (SAIL) in Bokaro and Durgapur.

“Dhamra faces some constraints like rail connectivity. Kolkata Port’s inefficiencies are such that Dhamra as of today provides some benefit over Kolkata. If they manage to bring in improvement, then it will impact Dhamra,” Udgirkar added.

Kolkata Port has identified five public-private partnership projects to be implemented by 2012, with an investment of Rs 2,300 crore. Four of these will be commissioned at Haldia.

“Various development programmes being taken up by the port to reduce the dredging cost and to increase traffic volume, which on implementation will once again make the Kolkata Port a premier one,” said Meena.