ITD Cementation bags Rs 1,648 cr contract for construction at Vadhvan Port

Renew Exim DMCC, Adani Group's Dubai-based entity in October had entered into an agreement to acquire a 46.64 per cent stake in ITD Cementation in October 2024

ITD Cementation India Ltd has won an engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) contract worth Rs 1,648 crore for construction at the Vadhvan Port in Maharashtra.

 

The company will be building near-shore reclamation and shore protection for the port.

 

ITD Cementation emerged the lowest bidder and bagged the contract at its quoted price.

 

The contract was awarded at the above-mentioned price which is 6.9 per cent below the estimated cost of Rs 1,770 crore, excluding goods and services tax (GST).

 

The contract was approved by the Vadhvan Port Project Limited (VPPL) board at its eighth meeting on Tuesday. The approved bid was deemed both reasonable and workable, according to a statement by VPPL.

 

 

The contract involves the development of about 200 hectares of land in the near-shore area, which is a vital component for initiating other key packages of the project. These include loading points and essential infrastructure.

 

In the race to secure the contract, ITD Cementation beat the other two bidders — Man Infra Construction Ltd, in a joint venture with TIPL, and Navayuga Engineering Company Ltd.

 

All three firms met the qualification criteria, said VPPL.

 

Unmesh Wagh, chairman, Jawaharlal Nehru Port Authority (JNPA) and chief managing director at VPPL, said, “This contract represents an important step towards establishing the core infrastructure for Vadhvan Port. The near-shore reclamation will lay the groundwork for subsequent phases of the project. It will ensure we move forward with a strong and sustainable base. As we step into 2025, we look forward to accelerating the work and making steady progress towards our goal.”

 

In October 2024, ITD Cementation’s promoter entity, Italian-Thai Development Public Company Limited, entered into a share purchase agreement with Renew Exim DMCC, a Dubai-based entity of the Adani Group. It was to sell 46.64 per cent of the total paid-up equity share capital of ITD.

 

The largest port project in India, the Vadhvan Port project, is worth Rs 76,220 crore and is being executed by VPPL, a special-purpose vehicle (SPV).

 

JNPA holds 74 per cent in the project, while the rest is held by the Maharashtra Maritime Board (MMB).

 

Once complete, the port will become India’s 13th major and largest container port. The first phase of the project is estimated to be completed by 2029.

 

Moreover, the port will possess a cargo-handling capacity of 298 million metric tonnes (MMT) per annum, including around 23.2 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs).

 

The all-weather greenfield deep draft port is situated in Palghar district of Maharashtra, and is being developed under a landlord model with terminals built through public-private partnerships (PPP). The project is likely to create 1.2 million job opportunities.

 

Recently, the project secured an investment of Rs 20,000 crore from Switzerland-based Terminal Investment Limited Sarl (TIL). Active across 31 countries, TIL invests in, develops and manages container terminals across the globe.