The Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone (APSEZ), one of the leading private terminal operators in the country, emerged as the clear winner for development of Ennore Port Container Terminal (ECT).
Apart from APSEZ, DP World, represented by Hindustan Ports, was in the race to bag the US$203.89 million container terminal project, reported The Hindu.
APSEZ was able to pip the DP World due to higher revenue sharing.
According to the sources, APSEZ offered a revenue share of 37 percent, while DP World offered 27.09 percent.
DP World is one of the two container terminal operators at the Chennai Port Trust. Their offers will be placed before the Ennore Port Ltd (EPL) board on Friday for ratification.
What has surprised the industry observers is that earlier APSEZ had participated in the $594 million mega container terminal of Chennai Port Trust. Being a lone bidder, APSEZ offered a revenue share of 5.35 percent, but it was rejected by ChPT officials stating it was too small.
During July 2013, 11 parties, including four foreign firms, submitted Requests for Qualification (RfQ) proposals for construction of the ECT. The proposals were sent to the Shipping Ministry by Ennore Port officials that in turn referred the proposals to Public Private Partnership Appraisal Committee. On February 5, the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs gave its clearance for this project.
An EPL official said that they had received two bids for the ECT project. It would be sent to the tender committee for scrutiny.
"We have all the clearances required for the project in place, including the security clearance. The bidder has to float a Special Purpose Vehicle and achieve financial closure.
Thereafter, we hope to sign the concession agreement."
As per the proposal, the selected firm has to construct the ECT on design, build, finance, operate and transfer basis for a concession period of 30 years. The terminal will have a capacity to handle annually 1.4 million TEUs.