An UAE-based firm — DP World — has bagged the tender to develop a Rs 4,243-crore mega container terminal for Deendayal Port Authority at Tuna-Tekra in Gulf of Kutch, Gujarat. Hindustan Ports Pvt Ltd, an Indian arm of DP World, pipped Adani Group’s Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone Ltd — the second bidder — to bag the project from the government-owned port authority that operates India’s number one major port. “We have issued the Letter of Acceptance (LOA) to DP World a couple of days ago. This is a greenfield PPP project where DP World will invest Rs 4,243 crore and an additional Rs 300 crore will be invested by the Deendayal Port,” Sanjay Mehta, chairman of Deendayal Port Authority told The Indian Express, Monday. “Earlier three bidders had shown interest. But the third, Qatar-based QTerminal did not turn up for the financial bid,” Mehta added. DP World will be responsible for the design, engineering, financing, procurement, implementation, commissioning, operation, management and maintenance of the project for a period of 30 years. The new facility is located about 15 kilometres from Kandla port, which started handling container cargo since October 1981. The port has 14 dry cargo berths and six oil berths. The project consists of construction of an off-shore berthing structure, which can handle three vessels simultaneously and will have a capacity of 2.19 million TEUs (Twenty-foot equivalent unit) per annum. The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs on October 2022 had approved the development of container terminal at Tuna-Tekra on Build, Operate and Transfer (BOT) basis under Public- Private-Partnership Mode. Initially the project will cater to 14-metre draught vessels of 6000 TEUs and accordingly, a common access channel with 15.5-metre depth will be dredged and maintained by Deendayal Port Authority. During the concession period, DP World will also have liberty to handle vessels up to 18-metre draught by deepening and widening the approach channel, berth pocket and turning circle. At present, DP World operates container terminals at Mundra, which is 60 kilometres away from Kandla. It also operates similar terminals at Nhava Sheva, Kochi and Chennai.
