KoPT puts onshore bulk cargo handling tender in action

Kolkata Port Trust (KoPT) has revived the onshore cargo handling tender for Haldia after the High Court paved way for moving ahead with the decision.
KoPT in a corrigendum has said the tender sale would be held in view of the order from High Court, and it has decided to go ahead with the pending tender process.
Accordingly, sale of tender documents would be permitted till November 12 and the revised last date for submission of bids would be November 17.
Earlier, the last date for the submission of tender was August 19.
A few existing stevedores had moved the court against the tendering process.

The KoPT had said there was tremendous response for the pre-bid tender meeting on the tender floated to select onshore dry bulk cargo handling agents for the Haldia Docks.

Representatives of some 17 companies and a major handling agent group now engaged at Haldia, had attended the pre-bid meeting with port officials for selecting an onshore dry bulk cargo handling agent.
The KoPT had took the initiative and had floated the tender on July 21, after the Centre directed the port to select handling agents for dry bulk cargo through a tendering process along with a revenue sharing scheme following charges that a few agents had caused loss running into thousands of crores of rupees.

KoPT sources said the Centre might use the Haldia project as a pilot project before asking all 12 major ports to follow suit.