Business Line reported that Ennore Port Ltd is likely to invite fresh bids for the INR 1,300 crore new container terminal project.

This follows a decision by the Bay of Bengal Terminal Pvt Ltd a special purpose vehicle set up to design, construct and operate a new container terminal at the port to withdraw from the project citing delay in finalising debt funding.

If a re bidding happens, the terminal is likely to be delayed by another year. This means the neighbouring Katupalli port, developed by Larsen & Toubro and which is ready to commission its container terminal, will be in an advantageous position to capture a significant share of the container traffic.

A source said that Ennore Port’s board will soon decide on the re bidding, which will be forwarded to the Shipping Ministry for clearance. The London based Eredene is part of an international consortium led by Spain’s biggest port terminal operator Grup Marítim TCB which constituted the SPV. The consortium was awarded the build operate transfer project in June 2009 for 30 years. Eredene in a statement said that the consortium will withdraw from the project with immediate effect.

In July, Eredene said that “Protracted negotiations have taken place to secure debt funding for the project. However, there is no guarantee that the consortium will be able to agree to acceptable financial terms with State Bank of India, particularly in light of the negative change in the global and Indian funding environment.”

Ennore Port gave the SPV time until April 30 to finalise debt funding. Due to the consortium’s failure to meet that deadline, the port even cashed a bid guarantee of INR 14 crore.

Source - Business Line

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