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The government plans to invite bids for the ₹18,000-crore first phase of the proposed international container transshipment terminal at Great Nicobar next month.
Sarbananda Sonowal, minister of shipping, ports and inland waterways, said about a dozen entities have shown interest in the project and that tenders would be floated soon after the terms were finalised.
Mint had earlier reported that Larsen & Toubro Ltd, Afcons Infrastructure Ltd, and JSW Infrastructure Ltd were among companies interested in building the terminal.
The ministry of shipping, ports and inland waterways is now expected to finalise a cabinet note for the public-private-partnership project, and seek approval over the next three to four weeks before tenders are floated for the first phase.
The bids are likely to be finalised in the first quarter of FY25, a shipping ministry official said, declining to be identified.
India’s marquee ₹43,700-crore international container transshipment terminal in Great Nicobar has already received in-principle approval from the union finance ministry.
The project has four phases, the first of which entails an investment of ₹18,000 crore to create four million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) or 60 million tonnes of containerised cargo capacity. TEU is a standard unit of cargo capacity, often used for container ships and container ports. The project will involve the creation of berthing facilities, townships for workers and a break-water facility for ships.
Officials said the entire project is expected to take 28 years to complete, but the timeline could shrink depending of the amount of business that the hub attracts.
The project, initially planned for take-off in 2022 after Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced it in 2020, ran into delays over green clearances and opposition from environmentalists. These issues have now been resolved.
The Great Nicobar transshipment project is strategic initiative of the government to make India a key participant in the international sea route from the eastern border of Russia and China to the Middle East, Europe and Africa.
The proposed hub is just 40 nautical miles from the international sea route and the location has a natural draft of 20 meters, which is adequate for berthing large ships. Existing terminals on the route include Singapore, Klang and Colombo.
The project is part of the ₹72,000-crore Great Nicobar project, which also includes an international airport, a township and area development, as well as a gas and solar power plant spanning over 16,610 hectares on the island.
The first phase of the proposed hub will focus on developing infrastructure for port facilities like breakwater, berths, storage areas, building and utilities, and equipment to handle containers and cargo.
As it is a public-private-partnership (PPP) project, the core infrastructure will be developed with government support while private firms will operate the port and container services for 30-50 years and share revenue with the government.
Great Nicobar is strategically important to India as more than 75% of the country’s transshipment cargo is handled by ports outside the country. A large part of this will to the proposed facility at Great Nicobar, apart from international cargo on other supply routes.
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Published: 03 Jan 2024, 05:55 PM IST
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