Adani Ports, Vedanta, Essar Ports compete for Tuna multipurpose cargo berth tender

The Deendayal Port Authority has issued a tender for the construction of a multipurpose cargo berth at its satellite facility in Tuna Tekra, with an estimated investment of ₹1,552.57 crore. Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone Ltd, Vedanta Ltd, Essar Ports Ltd, and Gautam Freight Pvt Ltd have submitted their initial bids.

18.33 million tonnes (mt) of goods (apart from liquid and containers) can be handled at the multifunctional terminal near Tuna Tekra outside Kandla Creek. The bidder who offers the port authority the highest royalty per tonne of goods handled will be given the project. The Deendayal Port Authority has made three attempts to build the berth using private funding.

Depending on the state of the market, the berth operator will be allowed to set tariffs. The hinterland of Northern India, which includes the landlocked states of Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, and Jammu and Kashmir, is served by the Deendayal Port in Kandla, Gujarat. With the exception of containers, the dry cargo berths at Deendayal Port, which include barge jetties at Tuna, Bunder Basin, and IFFCO Barge Jetty, can now accommodate 59.96 million tonnes (mt). In order to accommodate the port’s overused dry cargo handling infrastructure and continually increasing dry cargo traffic, the port authorities is looking to construct more facilities.

The planned facility is designed to handle multipurpose cargo such as food grains, fertilisers, coal, ores and minerals, steel cargo etc. The berth will be able to dock vessels of up to 100,000 dead weight tonnes (DWT) and up to 15 metres draft. Depth alongside the berth will be 16.5 metres.

The successful bidder will have to invest funds for constructing the berth, approach trestle, install mechanised cargo handling equipment, build utility corridors, railroad connectivity, rail loading yard and backup area. The cost of capital (deepening) and maintenance dredging of the access channel up to 15 metres will be borne by the port authority.

However, the port authorities and the private operator will split the expense of deepening the access channel beyond 15 meters and up to 18 meters. The port authorities will also pay for the berth and turning circles, as well as the capital and maintenance dredging. However, the private operator will have to pay for the maintenance and capital dredging for deepening along with the berth and turning circles if it wants to handle boats with a draft of up to 18 meters. The project has been approved by the coastal regulating zone and the environment.