Samsung in race to build KPT's container terminal

Only three companies file EOIs for the Rs 3000 crore project at Tuna

Samsung C&T Corporation, a subsidiary of South Korean major Samsung is among the three bidders for Kandla Port Trust (KPT)'s new container terminal at Tuna near the Kandla Port, persons involved in the process informed.

"Three bidders have submitted their expressions of interest (EOIs) for the project. The evaluation of the EOIs is yet to complete, hence the details of the submitted bids such as investment and execution period, are not clear," said a senior KPT official.

"Samsung C&T is the only multi-national company in race, while two others are Indian companies. No company from Gujarat has submitted their EOIs," the official added. The last date for submission of EOIs was April 2, 2013.

KPT is planning to set up a container terminal at Tuna-Tekra on build, operate and transfer (BOT) basis for container vessels having capacity up to 18000 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs). The project is estimated to involve the investment of around Rs 3000 crore.

"It will take at least one month to finalise the partner for the container terminal project," said another KPT official.

The project will be developed on public private partnership (PPP) basis with 30 years of concession period for the operator. The bidders will be required to prepare a feasibility study report along with a statement of total investment required and expected revenue generation.

Last year, KPT had appointed Mumbai-based marine consultancy provider, Zebec Marine Consultants and Services to prepare an initial techno-feasibility study of the project, which projected the potential capacity of the container terminal to be around 1.5 million TEUs per annum.

"Not many players turned up for the KPT's container terminal project. Most of the leading players including Adani, Essar, Reliance, are either engaged in developing their own container terminals or have not expressed interest to file the bids," said an industry insider at Mundra.

KPT already has two container berths at the Kandla Port, with the combined current capacity of about 7.2 million TEUs annually. But considering the rise in demand for container infrastructure country's largest port decided to develop a container terminal at Tuna. The existing berths are located within the Kandla creek.

The Tuna-Tekra area has been identified by KPT to develop the port facilities beyond Kandla creek. The proposed container terminal is located 10 kilometers from Tuna.