India's first mega box terminal project bags 9 bidders

AUTHORITIES at India's Port of Chennai are said to have been overwhelmed by the response they received from bidders to build, operate and transfer (BOT) the country's first mega container terminal at the port.

Nine companies submitted their request for qualification (RFQ) to qualify for the project, reports the Times of India.

It said that all the applications will be evaluated on the basis of the eligibility criteria stipulated in the bid document and the shortlist of pre-qualified applicants, who will be eligible to participate in the request for project bid stage, will be drawn up after receipt of security clearance from the central government.

The enthusiasm, despite the recession, shows that Chennai has a lot of business prospects to offer in the coming years. The mega container terminal, the first of its kind in the country, will have a quay length of 2 kilometres and will have the deepest berth, 22 metres, in the country. It will bring Chennai Port on a par with other international ports in Western countries, Chennai Port Trust Chief Engineer Srinivas Kannan was quoted as saying.

The mega terminal will be able to handle the giants of the world's container shipping fleet at 18,000 TEU, and the facility will be about one-seventh owned by the Chennai Port Trust, which will be responsible for maintaining the berth depth.

Building and operating the container terminal will be done by the selected company for a period of 30 years. However, maintaining the depth of the berth will be our responsibility. We will also provide the navigation guides, said Mr Kannan.

At present the port has two container terminals that handle more than 1.2 million TEU per year, accounting for 60 per cent of the container traffic passing through the four container terminals in South India, the report added.

Source: Schednet