It seems the tender floated by Kolkata Port Trust (KPT) for mechanized cargo handling at the berth no 2 and 8 of the Haldia Dock Complex is attracting strong response from firms.
According to sources in the knowhow of the matter, nine companies participated in the recent pre-bid meeting held by the port trust for the tender.
The berths are lying idle following exit of ABG-LDA-led Haldia Bulk Terminals’ (HBT) from a 10-year contract. The port trust set December 3 as the last date for submission of bids. The successful bidder may be appointed to offer mechanized cargo handling solutions at both the berths.
The successful bidder will carry out the balance of work that was left midway following HBT’s exit. It may be recalled that the KoPT had refused to terminate its contract with HBT despite the latter announcing its exit on October 31.
The KoPT is also fighting a legal battle at the Calcutta High Court to force HBT to resume operations or pay demurrages.
For any public-private partnership project in the country, if the original contractor fails or leaves the project in the middle, a new contractor is being appointed to continue it, a KoPT official is quoted as saying in a leading media.
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