Karnataka Invites Global Bids For Port Development

The Karnataka government has invited global tenders for the development of three ports in the state offered for privatisation.

Karnataka State Industrial Investment and Development Corporation (KSIIDC) has hired the services of RITES for the evaluation of technical and financial bids.

The three ports are Karwar and Belekeri in Uttara Kannada district and Old Mangalore.

According to the corporation, the state government has decided to offer these ports to the private sector for development under build, operate, share and transfer basis.

The state government has also decided to seek global bids for developing suitable stretches of seacoast of the state. We will leave it to the prospective bidder to identify the location, prepare techno-economic feasibility reports etc as a pre-condition for getting the bids evaluated, according to state government sources.

 

Old Mangalore port had been traditionally used as the port until New Mangalore Port came into existence in the seventies. This port has some land apart from the old port and could be developed into a major offshore bulk handling port for oil. Karwar, located 70 km off Murmagoa, has a port and some land. This port, when fully developed to international standards, could handle a tonnage of 20 million tonnes per year.

Coking coal for the giant steel mills and thermal power plants coming up in the coast are expected to provide regular business on long-term basis, the state said. Belekeri, 18 km off Karwar, also has an existing old fairweather port and could be converted into a major offshore bulk handling facility.