Ministry asks KPT to review Rs 800 crore jetties project

The management of the Union government-controlled Kandla Port Trust (KPT) is in the soup. For, it has been asked to reverse some of its decisions related to construction of four dry cargo jetties under public-private partnership. To comply with the instructions of the Union shipping ministry, a special board meeting has been convened on Wednesday.

The Rs 800 crore jetties project was recently cleared both by the planning commission and the Union government. When it was taken up in the last board meeting in the first week of this month for final approval, there was strong protest from some trustees over the changes made in the project originally approved by the board.

The changes related to dropping of one bidder out of 11 bidders earlier approved, reduction in draft from 14 metres to 13 metres in waterfront of these jetties and allotment of more than one jetty to the same party.

Sources said that despite protests, these changes were okayed by the board and a formal resolution to this effect was passed to be sent to the shipping ministry for its ratification before implementation as required under the Major Port Trust Act, 1963. The dissenting trustees pointed out that since these changes were made in the original proposal approved by the board and then by the government, the aggrieved party might go to court, delaying the project further.

"The dropping of one party, despite it meeting all financial and technical parameters of global tender notices, was attributed by the management to security concerns, without elaborating it," a source among the trustees told DNA. 

Sources said that the board resolution was not approved by the ministry, which called the top port official to Delhi. He was told that the changes relating to draft in front of the jetties and allotting more than one jetty to a single party were wrong. The ministry also directed that the Adani group, one of the short-listed bidders, be dropped as they were Kandla's main competitor by having their own well-developed port at Mundra. The ministry also wanted one more local party to be dropped from the final list of bidders.
Shipping ministry is reportedly in a great hurry and has asked the port management to obtain the duly filled Right of Qualification Form (RQF) from the bidders on the very next day of the meeting.

Meanwhile, Gautam Freight Pvt Ltd, which has been dropped from the list of bidders, is preparing to challenge the move in court. "We haven't been officially informed about it, but if we are dropped for security reasons, it would become a question of our 'izzat'," Ramesh Singhvi, a director of the company told DNA.

When contacted for comments on Tuesday, KPT secretary Balendu Tewari said a special board meeting on the construction of dry cargo jetties on BOT basis was being held on Wednesday to apprise the board members of legal clarifications now received from the ministry. "I cannot say anything more in this regard," he added.