Chennai: While nearby Ennore port is on an expansion spree, Chennai port is lagging behind, following the ban on handling coal and iron ore. With no bids received for the PPP project to convert the coal terminal into a container terminal, it remains to be seen how the city port will gear itself up for competition in the near future.
The planned Rs 475 crore container terminal at Jawahar dock is set to have a handling capacity of 0.8 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) per year. According to Chennai Port Trust chairman Atulya Misra, the port has been forced to extend its deadliÂne to February 12 to recÂeive bids for the new box terminal at Jawahar dock.
“The last date for submitting bids was December 31, but we did not get any response. So, we have extended the deadline and are in a wait-and-watch mode,” said Misra. He added that three companies, PSA International, DP World and Adani Ports, have qualified to submit bids, but none of them has sent any official bid.
While the depressed market and extra capacity at port are important reasons for not receiving bids, Misra said, the port would also keep a watch on Ennore port’s container terminal’s bid, which is expected to get finalised by this month-end.
“If Ennore port also lacks decent bids, then things will improve only when the market opens up,” he added. However, he added that if Ennore port receives decent bids, then something is wrong with Chennai.
“We have to look at improving connectivity and make Chennai attractive to bidders,” said Misra, who added it would be easy to start operations from an existing dock.
Recently, the CPT droÂpped the mega container terminal project due to poor response.
Industry members are not willing to buy global recession as an explanation for the lack of bidders. “People are already suffering with one road at Chennai and so companies might not go for a bid there. But they might go to Ennore because when business develops, they can use that port,” said Chennai custom house agents association president P. S. Krishnan.
