Jawaharlal Nehru (JN) port would try fresh bids in a short period by revising, strategically indeed, its mega project into smaller ones, thereby increasing the feasibility of implementing the projects. Mr. L. Radhakrishnan, the Port Chairman remarked on October 18 : “Present is scope for at least five-six major changes in the scope of the project”. The new proposal is to split the project in two separate terminals, each with a berth length of 1 kilometer with the capacity to load 2.4 million containers in each terminal. Another very good revision, welcomed by many, is the port’s plan to drop a key condition in the tender which is related to the relocation of a liquid cargo jetty, run by Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited and situated near the new terminals. The response of Mr. Devadatta Bose, Deputy Manager (Ports) at Tata Consulting Engineers Limited to the port’s plan of dropping the tender condition was very warm and to the point: “The failure of the earlier tender is a blessing in disguise” and he also added that the port, without the relocation, can expand as well save huge cost. The Managing Director of a Mumbai-based port logistics firm dealing with cargo-handling facilities at Vizag and Tuticorin ports has made apt remarks on the proposed changes in the mega project saying that the changes would now attract “ smaller operators also. As a result, it will lead to wider participation of a large number of firms.”The port is intent on expanding its capacity to match the growth in volume of business and it is already functioning beyond its capacity.
No comments:
Post a Comment