ABG bags port project adjacent to PSA terminal
A unit of Mumbai-listed ABG Infralogistics, ABG Container Handling, has secured the rights to develop and operate a new container loading facility at Chidambaranar port in Tamil Nadu entailing an investment of US$56.16 million, reported Contify.com.
ABG quoted a revenue share of 55.19 percent to win the contract and this will pit ABG in direct competition with its Singapore partner PSA International that has been running a terminal at Chidambaranar port since 1999.
PSA has been bidding for container terminal contracts in India in partnership with ABG and only last year, the team won a $1.2 billion container terminal at Jawaharlal Nehru port that can load 4.8 million standard containers a year.
ABG will develop the facility at Chidambaranar port that can load 600,000 standard containers a year by deploying 12 modern cranes to load and unload containers at the terminal.
Port contracts at Union government-controlled ports are decided on the basis of revenue share. The bidder is willing to share the annual revenue with the government-run port for the next 30 years.
PSA is battling tariff problems at its existing terminal in Chidambaranar port with the royalty payment to the port exceeding the income from handling a container. The company is running the container terminal at Chidambaranar port, which is 63 percent owned by PSA International, the world's second biggest container port operator and the remaining stake is held by local firm Sical Logistics.