Eleven companies have responded to a request for formal expressions of interest in building and operating a new container terminal at India’s Port of Ennore.
The request followed the cancellation of Ennore’s initial tender in September last year after a consortium led by U.K.-based Eredene Capital pulled its bid, citing cost escalation and depressed market conditions.
According to port sources, respondents include Port of Singapore Authority, DP World, APM Terminals and domestic engineering giant Larsen & Toubro.
Eleven companies have responded to a request for formal expressions of interest in building and operating a new container terminal at India’s Port of Ennore.
The request followed the cancellation of Ennore’s initial tender in September last year after a consortium led by U.K.-based Eredene Capital pulled its bid, citing cost escalation and depressed market conditions.
According to port sources, respondents include Port of Singapore Authority, DP World, APM Terminals and domestic engineering giant Larsen & Toubro.
The port authority is expected to issue a request for qualifications shortly as part of the next stage of bidding.
The original concession called for the construction of 3,280 feet of quay and water depth of 49 feet with an annual capacity of 1.5 million 20-foot-equivalent units, but given the ongoing container shipping slowdown, the authority is likely to proceed with a phased development under the new tender.
Ennore in its expression of interest request said it plans to “develop terminals that can accommodate at least 8,000-TEU vessels and even 14,000-TEU ships, in future”. The project, on a 30-year concession, would be the first container-handling facility at the port, a major cargo hub near Chennai Port.
Ennore, which currently handles bulk ships with drafts up to 52 feet, moved 12.2 million tons of cargo from April through December 2012, up 17.5 percent from 10.4 million tons in the same period in 2011.
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