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Over 10 EoIs received, in talks with more interested bidders for Great Nicobar Port : Sarbananda Sonowal
NEW DELHI: India’s Ministry of Shipping has received “at least” 10 EoIs (Expression of Interest) for the proposed Rs. 48,000 crore transshipment port project at Galathea Bay in Great Nicobar Island off the Bay of Bengal. And a “few more”, including international players, have reached out separately to the Ministry expressing their interest to participate in the bidding process when it opens, Shri Sarbananda Sonowal, the Union Minister of Ports, Shipping and Waterways (MoPSW) said.
“We have received over 10 EoIs for the Gibraltar Bay port, and a few more players and leading shipping liners, including international ones have reached out to us saying that they are interested in bidding for the project. So let’s see how this works out. As of now, the initial trends or interest levels are encouraging,” Sonowal said, during an exclusive interaction.
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The EOI was released earlier this yearinJanuary.
Port officials aware of the developmentssaidsomeofthenames who have placed EoIs include Adani Ports and SEZ, JSW Infra, RVNL (Rail Vikas Nigam Ltd), Container Corporation, among others. On the international side, Dutch dredging major Royal Boskalis Westminister is saidtobeamongstthoseinterested.
An EOI is not a formal order tender. It will determine the terms of engagement and orders are awarded later. Other documents that needs to be looked into are Request for Qualification, Request for Proposal andDraftConcessionAgreement.
Reportedlythegovernmentwould look at a PPP mode via the landlord model; or an hybrid annuity model could also be considered because of thehighnatureofinvestments.
The concessionaire could also be awarded a long term PPP concession and can make his own investments in infrastructure subject to minimum guaranteedtraffic.
The Great Nicobar port is to be developed in four phases with a total capacity of 16 million tonnes of containercargohandling,peryear.
“Clearances are being worked on fortheport,”Sonowaladded.
