The Cochin Port Trust plans to rework its Rs.250-crore
bulk cargo terminal project on quays 8 and 9 of Ernakulam wharf after
its global call for a private partner for the project failed to elicit
any response.
Reworking the project, which envisaged
totally mechanised handling operations, will emphasise developing a
14.5-metre quayside to attract large vessels and to pitch it as the only
major port in the country to offer such draught for bulk cargo like
coal and fertilizer.
The port authority here feels
that since the Ernakulam wharf is situated close to the International
Container Transshipment Terminal (ICTT) achieving 14.5 draught would not
involve significant additional expenditure. Sources said the port was
being forced to rework its plans on the drawing board since the
container handling operations were shifted to Vallarpadam Island in
February 2011, as there was no response to its international call for
partners to implement the project.
The lack of
interest among potential private partners has largely been attributed to
the low handling charges fixed by the Tariff Authority for Major Ports
(Tamp) for the project.
Tamp fixes charges at
different ports taking the local situations into consideration and its
March 2005 notification said TAMP would continue with the portwise
cost-plus-return on capital employed approach. The approach appears to
have worked against the general cargo terminal project here with rates
in the neighbouring ports ruling higher than in Kochi, making it
unattractive to potential project partners. Sources said five companies
responded to the initial request for the qualification call but none of
them took the case forward. The cargo handling charge fixed by Tamp for
Kochi is Rs.106 a tonne. In ports like Goa, Tuticorin, Goa and
Vishakapatnam, the rates range between Rs.183 and Rs.114 a tonne.
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