KoPT plans to lease out dry docks

The Kolkata Port Trust today said it plans to lease five dry docks to raise revenue.

KoPT chairman R P S Kahlon said that the dry docks, used for ship breaking, repairing and maintenance activity, could be leased to private operators at a charge.

Speaking on the sidelines of the Calcutta Freight Brokers AGM, Kahlon gave the information that already a few domestic and international companies, including one from Glasglow, Scotland and another south-based domestic company, have expressed interest in the dry docks.

Currently, the utilisation of the dry docks’ capacity is very low and hence the leasing proposal.

“If we go ahead with the plan, we will do it through proper tendering process,” Kahlon said.

Meanwhile, noting the slow progress of its selection of bidders for some ongoing projects, he said that the process of implementation of the PPP projects was taking a long time due to bureaucratic hurdles.

The port could not select the bidder for Haldia Dock II as the one per cent of revenue was not acceptable to the port.

“If negotiation to improve the revenue is not possible, then the tender will be scrapped,” Kahlon said.

Kahlon remained optimistic about transloading activity in the new site, arranged through mutual negotiation with the Odisha government, which can be operational for a shorter duration in a year than the previous site.

Asked about Sagar port, Kahlon said an interministerial group is expected to meet shortly to finalise preliminary work like SPV, DPR, time-frame of the project.