The Kolkata Port Trust (KoPT) will next month shortlist those companies that will be called to submit commercial bids for developing the 20-million tonne second dock at the Haldia port .

“We will complete the short-listing process by end of August. We hope to invite requests for proposal in September,” Mr Manish Jain, the acting chairman of KoPT, said here on Tuesday. He was speaking to reporters on the sidelines of a logistics seminar organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry.

Early this year, the port trust received 30 preliminary bids for constructing the second dock complex at Haldia. This new dock complex is likely to be functional by the end of 2013-14.

To be set up through a public private partnership, bidding of the Rs 2,000-crore project has seen participation from companies such as Shapoorji Pallonji Infrastructure, Gammon India, JSW Infrastructure, a consortium of Transstroy-OJSC, Vadinar Oil Terminal Ltd, Megha Engineering and Jindal ITF.

According to KoPT sources, the upcoming dock will be developed in two phases. The port trust will invest nearly Rs 450 crore to lay a 10-km rail network and build marine infrastructure inside the port.

So far, the State Government has allocated about 160 acres of land to the port trust for the project. Port officials suggest that Haldia Development Authority, a local urban body, would provide the land required for the rail network in the port.

ayan.pramanik@thehindu.co.in

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