The government has decided to float fresh tenders for the Rs 2,000 crore Vallarpadam transshipment hub at Kochi and asked the port authorities to appoint an advisor for the project to chalk out the detailed contract document.
The government has also dropped the idea of closed tendering for the project and allowed P&O Ports of Australia to participate in the bidding. P&O had emerged as the sole bidder for the project in the last round of tendering in May 1998 and fears had been expressed that the company may gain monopoly status as it was already operating the Colombo port, which caters to a bulk of Indian transshipment cargo.