Kandla Port Trust, which runs India’s biggest cargo-handling port by volume at Kandla in Gujarat, has approved the highest price bid submitted by Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone Ltd (APSEZ) to build a Rs 1,060 crore satellite port outside Kandla creek to handle 14 million tonnes of cargo a year, LiveMint reports.
The bid was cleared by the port’s board of trustees at a meeting on Tuesday, said Sanjay Thakrar, a member of the board of Kandla port. APSEZ, India’s biggest private port operator, had emerged the highest bidder for the project in December by agreeing to share 25.09% of its revenue from the facility with the port. APSEZ has recently run into problems with the Union home ministry, which has denied security clearance to the firm to participate in the auctions for port contracts without attributing any reasons. Since November 2010, the firm has been denied security permits to participate in at least four port auctions—one each at JN port and Vizhinjam port and two at Vizag port. The project involves setting up berthing and allied facilities off Tekkra near Tuna outside Kandla creek to handle 14 mt of cargo a year. The project will help APSEZ expand its port capacity to 200 mt by 2020 from about 75 mt now.
The bid was cleared by the port’s board of trustees at a meeting on Tuesday, said Sanjay Thakrar, a member of the board of Kandla port. APSEZ, India’s biggest private port operator, had emerged the highest bidder for the project in December by agreeing to share 25.09% of its revenue from the facility with the port. APSEZ has recently run into problems with the Union home ministry, which has denied security clearance to the firm to participate in the auctions for port contracts without attributing any reasons. Since November 2010, the firm has been denied security permits to participate in at least four port auctions—one each at JN port and Vizhinjam port and two at Vizag port. The project involves setting up berthing and allied facilities off Tekkra near Tuna outside Kandla creek to handle 14 mt of cargo a year. The project will help APSEZ expand its port capacity to 200 mt by 2020 from about 75 mt now.