Mormugao Port Authority had called bids from private firms to redevelop Berth 9 along with three barge berths having a capacity to handle 12 million tonnes (mt) of cargo with an investment of Rs.842 crore on PPP basis. But the plan seems to have collapsed after the two pre-qualified bidders – Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone Ltd (APSEZ) and JSW Infrastructure –stayed away from placing price quotations despite multiple time extensions.
The successful bidder was to handle iron ore and other cargo excluding containers, coal, and break bulk for 30 years. “APSEZ and JSW Infra did not submit price quotations even after sufficient time was given for submission,” said a government official briefed on the tender, indicating that the tender will likely be scrapped.
Mormugao Port Authority will “inform” its board about the status of the tender and seek its suggestions/approval on the way forward, he said.
The project is a part of the National Monetisation Pipeline (NMP) wherein operational infrastructure assets including port terminals will be privatised through the public-private-partnership (PPP) route. Mormugao Port was beset by lack of back up area for storing cargo and rail and road connectivity for evacuating cargo, the industry source said.
The Berth 9 has not been operational since 2012 when the port authority dismantled the mechanised iron ore handling facilities such as stacker cum reclaimer and hopper loaders, after the Supreme Court banned the export of the steel making commodity from Goa.
The berth is occasionally used for handling granite and bauxite cargo while the three barge berths are used to park ships including those run by the Indian Coast Guard.
Mormugao Port, once India’s top iron ore exporting port, was hit by the ban on iron ore mining in Goa from October 2012 that drastically cut export of the commodity through the port and sliced the port’s overall cargo by more than half.
The ban has since been lifted by the court with certain conditions, but the port is yet to recover from the shock.
Mormugao Port was the only major port, among the dozen owned by the Union government, that recorded negative growth in traffic during FY23. The cargo handled by Mormugao Port shrank 6.2 per cent to 17.319 mt in FY23 from 18.466 mt in FY22.
In the first quarter of FY24, Mormugao Port handled 4.923 mt of cargo, 3.34 per cent more than the 4.764 mt handled during the same period last year.
