The Port Trust has a proposal to develop two berths, North Cargo Berth III and North Cargo Berth IV for handling thermal coal and rock phosphate and thermal coal and copper concentrate respectively. Many major players have evinced interest in the project and the bid for both the projects, it is said, is likely to be finalized in a couple of days. The competitors are Marg Limited, Adani Ports, Sterlite Ports, Transstory (India), the Russian company OJSC, SEW Infrastructure, a Malasyian company Pembinan Radzai Sdn Bhd., IL & FS along with the Italian Marine SPA, and ABG-LDA. The fact remains that the projects are yet to be given the environment clearance. There are cases wherein delay in getting environment clearance has led to bidders withdrawing from the project. Reason is not difficult at all to find. Just cost escalation of the project! Investment that does not bring profit at the expected level turns into an expenditure and a business is anything but just a continuous expenditure. Singapore based Noble group gave up the project of building an iron ore terminal at Paradip Port in Odisha since the cost of the project rose to INR 800 crore from INR 590 crore due to a long delay in obtaining the environmental clearances. According to a spokesperson of the Sterlite Ports, “Uncertainty caused by environment and other regulatory clearances not being in place on time is a big risk for projects in Tuticorin”.A cracked bell can never sound well; a delayed project can never fetch profit.
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