Oct. 16, 2009 (The Hindu Business Line) --
Santanu Sanyal
Nine consortia have responded. Only Mundra Port SEZ has bid singly.
The nine consortia are Karamchand Thapar & Brothers and Skil Infrastructure Private Ltd; Jindal Steel & Power, Simplex Infrastructure and Srei Infrastructure Pvt Ltd; Essar Bulk Terminal Ltd and Vadinar Oil Terminal Ltd; Gammon Infrastructure Projects Ltd and Sara International Ltd; IL&FS Maritime Infrastructure Ltd and Punj Lloyd (OOTC:PNJLF) ; SEW Infrastructure Ltd and Pembinnan idzer Sdn Bhd; IMC Ltd and ITD Cementation India Ltd; Lanco Infratech Ltd (OOTC:LNIFF) and SICAL Logistics Ltd; Sterlite Industries India Ltd (NYSE:SLT) and Leighton Contractors India Pvt Ltd.
Due date
The shortlisting of the bidders, according to Paradip Port Trust sources, will be undertaken soon. The targeted date for completion of the project is March 2012.
On completion, Paradip port’s cargo handling capacity will be up by five million tonnes, the sources said.
The RO-RO jetty, which is being constructed at an estimated Rs 4.83 crore, will be ready for operation soon, they said. The jetty will be used mainly for handling project cargo.
The barge operation from NQI and II, both small and non-commercial berths, to facilitate lighterage, too will start soon.
In the first half of the fiscal year (April-September), Paradip port handled 26.74 million tonnes of traffic against 21.56 mt in the same period last year, registering 24.02 per cent growth, the highest among all the major ports. In terms of absolute volume, the port ranked fifth among all major ports, the sources added.
