The Kandla Port Trust has invited a global tender for the operation and maintenance of a container terminal in PPP mode on BOT basis for a concession period of 30 years. The project, which is aimed at catering to future growth in container traffic, will have an annual container handling capacity of 0.8 million TEUs. The estimated cost of the project, which may be developed in a phased manner, is Rs. 608.15 crore.

Providing the genesis of the project, Kandla Port Trust said that it had developed a container terminal at Berths 11 & 12 by entering into a License Agreement with ABG Kandla Container Terminal Ltd on June 23, 2006. The agreement pertained to the development, operation, management and maintenance of the two berths 11 & 12 in Kandla Port as container terminal on BOT basis for 30 years.

However, owing to “various defaults on the side of ABGKCTL,” Kandla Port Trust issued termination notice to the company in November 2012 with transfer date no later than April 1, 2013. This was followed by a law suit filed in the district court by ABGKCTL and further proceedings were carried out in the Gujarat High Court. “In the process, KPT took the physical possession of the container terminal,” the port trust noted. The matter is currently under arbitration.

The proposed project comprises the outsourcing of operation and maintenance activities of the container terminal at Berth 11 & 12. It also includes upgradation of some assets like repairing and replacing equipment, providing rail connectivity, providing electrical, illumination, IT system utilities and development of backup area.


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