Gammon Infrastructure has emerged the top bidder for developing and operating a mechanised coal import terminal in Mormugao Port, Goa. The bids for the project were opened on Tuesday.
The company has offered a revenue share of 33.66 per cent to the Port Trust to mechanise and operate the coal berth terminal, which will have a capacity of 2 million tonnes a year.
The second highest bidder was JSW, which offered a revenue share of 27 per cent.
The project involves a concession period of 30 years. When contacted, Gammon’s Infrastructure Managing Director, K.K. Mohanty, confirmed that the company had emerged as the best bidder.
“The project development is likely to cost about Rs 300 crore. The port will serve imported coal to sponge iron manufacturers in the Bellary area (Karnataka),” said Mohanty.
Expenditure
The Government estimates the project cost at about Rs 204 crore – in public-private partnership projects there are differences in estimates of the Government and private developer because of the time elapse between project report preparation and award. The Mormugao Port’s Board has to give a go-ahead for the project award.
Currently, Gammon has exposure to projects in three ports – Visakhapatnam, Mumbai and Paradip.
In Mumbai Port, the company has a 50 per cent stake in Indira Container Terminal Pvt Ltd, which has the rights to develop and operate a container terminal with a project cost of Rs 1,015 crore. The project capacity is 1.8 million twenty feet equivalent unit (TEU) a year. ICTPL, a joint venture between Gammon Infra and Dragados SPL, offered a royalty of 35.064 per cent to the Mumbai port to win the project.
In Visakhapatnam, Gammon has a 73.76 per cent stake in Vizag Seaport Private Ltd, which has the rights to develop and operate a multi-commodity bulk cargo project, with a project cost of Rs 317 crore. To bag this project, Gammon had offered a revenue share of 17.11 per cent to the Visakhapatnam Port. The project has a concession period of about 26 years, ending November 2031.
In Paradip port, the infra company has 31 per cent stake in Blue Water Iron Ore Terminal. This project, where Gammon’s partners are Noble Group (51 per cent) and MMTC (18 per cent), involves Rs 569 crore investment. To get the rights to operate this project, the special purpose vehicle had offered a 36.8 per cent revenue share to Paradip port.