The long-pending dredging work that blocked the start of Gammon Infrastructure Projects' offshore container terminal at Mumbai Port Trust and caused endless disputes, will finally start after a delay of more than six years, two people familiar with the matter said.
International Seaport Dredging turned out to be the lowest bidder with a quote of US$43 million when the bids were opened last week. Other contractors bidding for the project were Dharti Dredging and Van Oord, reported The Economic Times.
"The winning bid will be officially awarded the project in another 15-20 days. There are some administrative approvals pending," said a senior official with Mumbai Port familiar with the matter, who declined to be named.
Indira Container Terminal, a joint venture between Gammon and Dragados of Spain, was awarded in 2007 and was to be commissioned by 2010. It is a PPP on build, operate and transfer (BOT) basis.
However, the necessary dredging work to increase the depth of the channel to enable entry of bigger vessels was not completed on time with the previous dredging contractor Jaisu Shipping in charge of deepening the channel going belly up.
The project comprises 700m quay length in the first phase, which can be extended to 1,050m subsequently in the Mumbai harbour. The cost of the project has escalated from the initial US$162 million to about $288 million today.
Gammon expects the cost of the project to rise further to $320 million by end of 2016 fiscal. Gammon confirmed the development but said the troubles for Gammon do not end with dredging.
After the channel is adequately dredged, Victoria Dock and Princess Dock will have to be filled to make way for a container storage yard. The contract for filling up the docks has still not been awarded.
"The dredging work will take about 8.5 months to complete from the date of commencement," Gammon’s head of port sector Subhrarabinda Birabar told ET.
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