This new facility is adjacent to the existing facility BPCL already operates at Jawaharlal Nehru Port. This interim functioning will be in operation till the port authority finalises the tender to pick an operator which is currently awaiting security clearance for bidders from the Union government.
BPCL is among the seven bidders who have put forward their bids to equip, operate and maintain the new liquid cargo berths 3 and 4 at JNPA. The price bids are opened only after the port authority receives security clearance for all the bidders, according to the process followed for privatising cargo terminals at major ports on a public-private-partnership (PPP) mode.
With the security clearance for one of the seven bidders – Aegis Logistics Ltd getting delayed, the port authority reckons that the new berths will be rendered idle if an operator is not found soon.
“So, what we decided, here is a public sector undertaking (BPCL) who is one of the bidders and is also operating the liquid berths 1 and 2. We called them and told them that you can invest some Rs2.5 crores in a pipeline to start the facility. They have agreed to invest that amount, operationalise the new terminal and run it till the successful bidder is selected,” said a port official.
Seven entities including Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd, J M Baxi Ports & Logistics Ltd, JSW Infrastructure Ltd, Ganesh Benzoplast Ltd, IMC Ltd and Aegis Logistics Ltd are competing for the 30-year contract that will add 4.5 million tonnes (mt) of petroleum, oil, and lubricants (POL), edible oils, chemicals, molasses, and any new product/liquid bulk capacity at J N Port.
