VOC Port Authority floats fresh tender for building mega container terminal in outer harbour
V O Chidambaranar Port Authority, the state-owned entity that runs the port at Thoothukudi in Tamil Nadu, is testing the waters yet again by floating a fresh tender to build an ambitious 4 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) capacity container terminal in the southern port’s outer harbour with private funds of Rs 7,055.95 crore. On October 30, the port authority cancelled a six-month long tender for the project after the two groups that filed initial bids failed to qualify for the project. The tender terms have been kept unchanged from the previous attempt to conform to a government stand that the project parameters approved by the cabinet and the tender conditions can be changed only after two attempts turn futile. This view was revealed by a senior government official during a road show in Mumbai earlier this year during the first attempt in which bidders raised several concerns on the project structuring and cost estimates.
Turnaround time for ships at India’s ports cut by 48.65 pc
The average turnaround time for ships at India’s major ports has come down by as much as 48.65 per cent from 93.59 hours in 2013-14 to 48.06 hours in 2023-24, Union Minister of Ports, Shipping & Waterways Sarbananda Sonowal informed the Rajya Sabha on Tuesday. This reflects the increased efficiency at Indian ports in handling ships and cargo which is being cleared at a much faster pace,resulting in a reduction of logistics costs. “The government has taken various steps to improve the turnaround time such as the construction of new berths, terminals, and parking plazas, modernisation of existing berths and terminals, streamlining of processes through digitalisation and expansion of hinterland connectivity through rail and road,” the minister said in a written reply. The average turnaround time for ships at the Jawahar Lal Nehru Port near Mumbai has been reduced to a mere 26 hours.