Propelling port expansion plans further, the Shipping Ministry will award a Rs 1,407-crore contract for building a container terminal at Ennore and another contract for a project at Vizag next week.
"The bids for Ennore project had been called in June, but we could not open the documents due to a Madras High Court order. Now the petition has been withdrawn from the Court. The contract will now be awarded next week," a senior Shipping Ministry official told PTI.
For the Vizag port, a Rs 114-crore project for developing a general cargo berth was awarded earlier this week to ABG Infra Logistics, while another Rs 55-crore contract for a liquid cargo berth project will be given away next week, he added.
The two projects at Vizag have a concession period of 30 years, including two years of construction time.
The government had planned to award nine port projects in 2008-09, out of which five have been awarded in the last few months.
"With the award of these projects we would clear almost all the pending projects," he said.
Meanwhile, the Ministry has cancelled the last of the nine project for developing a container terminal worth Rs 312 crore at Tuiticorin because of legal hassles.
Of the five projects awarded earlier, two relate to development of coal and iron ore berths at the Paradip Port and one for setting up a coal terminal at the Mormugao Port in Goa. The projects have been awarded to private firms.
Two other contracts are for development of a multi- purpose berth at the New Mangalore Port in Karnataka and expansion of cargo handling facilities at the Kandla Port.
The contract for the container terminal at Ennore Port was delayed as the Madras High Court had asked the port management to reconsider its decision to exclude a number of private consortia bidding.
Five different consortia had filed petitions in the Court challenging their exclusion from the bidding process.
The country has 12 major ports with a combined capacity of 575 MT per annum which is targeted to reach 1,016 MT per annum at the end of the 11th Five-year Plan (2007-2012).
