In order to kick-start the construction of a greenfield container port at Vadhvan in Maharashtra, the Jawaharlal Nehru Port Authority (JNPA) has invited Expression of Interest (EoI) from investors and private developers asking them to participate in a ₹20,600 crore project meant to reclaim land for the port and construction of an offshore protection bund.
The project will involve carrying out dredging of the approach channel, harbour basin, dredging of material for filling and reclamation of a total offshore area of 1,227 hectares and maintenance of the developed area, sources told businessline. “Located offshore, the projected reclamation will be roughly 4-6 km away from the Vadhvan coast,” JNPA said in response to a questionnaire sent by businessline.
The Vadhvan port is being developed in two phases, costing a total of ₹76,220 crore. The applicant for the EoI can be a government organisation, or banks or developer or companies and financial institution or a joint venture or consortium of applicants etc. registered in India and engaged in major port or infrastructure projects in India or globally.
Vadhvan Port
The EoI has been floated by Vadhvan Port Project Ltd, a special purpose vehicle formed for the implementation of the project on public private partnership basis (PPP). The container port project having a total capacity of 24.5 million TEUs will have equity from JNPA and Maharashtra Maritime Board (MMB). Earlier this month, JNPA chairman Unmesh Wagh told businessline in an exclusive interview that the construction of roads connecting the port will begin after this monsoon and the work of reclamation of land will begin next year.
According to the detailed project report (DPR) of the project, approximately 200 million cubic metre of reclamation material will be required for the proposed port. The land reclamation and construction of offshore protection bund project is proposed to be implemented in public private partnership (PPP) mode under Hybrid Annuity Model (HAM).
Under this model, the applicant shall be responsible for financing, executing, maintaining and transferring the facility to JNPA after concession or authorization period. Under the HAM model, the first 40 per cent payment is made as fixed amount in five equal instalments whereas the remaining 60 per cent is paid as variable annuity amount towards balance bid amount along with interest on the residual debt after the completion of the project depending upon the value of assets created, states the EoI.
The Phase 1 of the project would handle traffic of about 6.85 million TEUs in the year 2030, increasing to 23.2 million TEUs in the master plan stage (Phase 2) of development during the year 2040. Phase-1 of the project is expected to cost Rs 50000 crore.