MbPT sets Oct 16 deadline for bids

6 firms to tender their bids for the Rs 3.5-cr project

The Mumbai Port Trust has set October 16 as the deadline to bid for its Rs 3.5 crore bulk commodity terminal project. Six short-listed companies have been asked to send their financial and technical bids, said assistant harbour master Sauri Rajan today.

Early September, Gammon Infrastructure Projects, Chettinad Logistics, United Liner Agencies, IMC, Modern Road Management and Chemical Terminal Trombay, were declared pre-qualified to bid for the project.

These firms entered the race to bag the 'build, operate and transfer' model project only after MbPT re-tendered it. The earlier tender was retired because only one company, Chettinad Logistics, had responded to it.

Chettinad was found technically qualified, yet MbPT retired the earlier tender, saying "more than one bidder was needed for wider choice."

The project envisages conversion of two 92-year-old bulk commodity berths, No 16 and 17, at Indira dock into a modern world-class bulk commodity terminal.

The new terminal will have annual handling capacity of 1.2 million tonne cargo comprising pulses, grains, sugar, fertilisers, etc, compared with just 0.6 million tonne now.