At least eight domestic and one international company participated in a pre-bid meeting for operation and maintenance of berth no 2 and 8 at the Haldia Dock Complex.

The berths are lying idle following exit of ABG-LDA-led Haldia Bulk Terminals’ (HBT) from a 10-year contract.

The Kolkata Port Trust has set December 3 as the last date for submission of bids.

The successful bidder may be appointed to offer mechanised cargo handling solutions at both the berths. The successful bidder will carry out the balance of work that was left midway following HBT’s exit.

Fresh tenders for cargo handling at berths 2 and 8 were floated by the KoPT on November 9 and the pre-bid meeting took place on Wednesday.

A senior KoPT official said: “Nine firms participated in today’s pre-bid meeting. This includes a global company. The domestic firms were from Ahmedabad, Mumbai, Odisha and other places.” He, however, did not disclose the names of the companies.

According to him, the participants also visited the Haldia Dock Complex on Wednesday.

Participants also enquired about cargo flow in these two berths especially since there was no minimum-tonnage guarantee in the terms of the tender.

It may be recalled that the KoPT had refused to terminate its contract with HBT despite the latter announcing its exit on October 31. The KoPT is also fighting a legal battle at the Calcutta High Court to force HBT to resume operations or pay demurrages.

“We have re-tendered to appoint a new contractor for the rest of the term-period (nearly seven years). For any public-private partnership project in the country, if the original contractor fails or leaves the project in the middle, a new contractor is being appointed to continue it,” a KoPT official said.

> ayan.pramanik@thehindu.co.in

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