Kerala reaches out to Vizhinjam bidders

The Kerala Government is reaching out to sulking bidders of the Vizhinjam international deepwater multi-purpose port and container transshipment terminal project.

Chief Minister Oommen Chandy held a meeting with representatives of the three bidders - Adani Ports and SEZ, Essar Ports and Srei-OHL Consortium – on Tuesday.

Chandy has promised to talk to the companies separately in order to remove apprehensions, if any, with respect to the project. The meeting also decided to set a fresh deadline of March 25 for the submission of final tenders.

The three companies that had bought tender documents did not submit their bids by the deadline on Monday. It was widely perceived as a major setback to the ₹4,089-crore project.

That this should have come after it was granted all clearances, including the first instance of viability gap funding allowed to a port project, has baffled political and administrative circles here.

Special purpose vehicle Vizhinjam International Seaport Ltd is now open to the option of suitably tweaking what it feels is a well-structured package.

State Minister for Ports K Babu has said that the government is willing to even re-tender the project, if needed. He also alluded to fears among bidders whether the port project would be granted exemption from Cabotage laws.

But the Minister is of the view that this is unwarranted since Cabotage issues come up only after the project becomes ready for operation.

Failure of the bidders to turn in their bids for a mega project that had progressed this far is shocking, he said. The government would try to ascertain the exact reasons for this and take corrective steps, he said.

Of the original five firms/consortiums shortlisted, only three had purchased the ‘Request for Proposal’ documents. The other two, Gammon Infrastructure Projects and a consortium of Hyundai and Concast Infratech, did not purchase them.

The project has failed to break the jinx it has come to be associated with every time it entered the tendering stage over the last decade. The last time a tender for selecting a private partner was floated was on December 4, 2013, the fourth such instance since 2007.

A string of court cases, denial of mandatory Central clearances and other controversies have dogged the dream project since its conception.