Tendering activities in August 2008 showed signs of decline when compared with the preceding month. Considerable decrease in tendering in the Power, Community Services and Roadway sectors led to this fall. In all, 3,571 project-related tenders worth Rs.23,388 crore were floated in August 2008, as against, 3,949 such project related tenders worth Rs.22,496 crore floated in July 2008.

Steep fall in the tendering activities by state owned agencies led to the 9.5 per cent decline on M-o-M basis. Tendering activities by the Central government units after declining in July staged a small recovery in August.

Hindustan Petroleum Corporation (HPCL), a Government of India enterprise, floated the most notable tender of the month. HPCL invited EoIs to set up state-of-the-art storage facilities for crude oil and petroleum product at a plot newly acquired adjacent to its Mahul refinery in Mumbai, on BOT basis. The estimated cost of the project is Rs.1,600 crore.

Another notable tender was floated by Madhya Pradesh State Mining Corporation (MPSMC). The state government enterprise, invited proposals from private parties to form a JV for mining coal from coal blocks owned by MPSMC. On 13 August 2008, it invited EoIs to select a JV partner for exploration, development, mining and marketing of six coal blocks of MPSMC - Morga-III and Morga- IV in Chhattisgarh, Semaria/Piparia, Bicharpur, Mandla South and Marki Barka in Madhya Pradesh. MPSMC proposes to hold 51 per cent equity in the proposed JV.

The coal will be sold to industrial units located in Madhya Pradesh and in case of inadequate demand in the state, it will be sold elsewhere. MPSMC also invited EoIs to select JV partner for exploration, development, mining and supply of coal from Morga-I coal block to feed a thermal power plant proposed in Madhya Pradesh.

National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) announced seven project tenders worth Rs.1,599 crore. Amongst the tenders floated, the most notable one was for development of a new fourlane elevated road from Chennai Port to Maduravoyal (NH-4) in Tamil Nadu on BOT (Toll) basis, under NHDP-VII. The project cost is estimated at Rs.1,220 crore. Another prominent tender by NHAI was for the preparation of feasibility-cum-preliminary design for construction of stand alone ring road/bypasses in Kanpur, Aligarh, Meerut, Lucknow and Varanasi cities of Uttar Pradesh.

In the SEZ sector, MIDC invited EoIs for development of sector specific SEZ over 100ha of land at MIDC Area Shrirampur in Maharashtra. Another prominent announcement within the SEZ sector was by Haldia Development Authority. It invited EoIs for the development of an IT Park/IT SEZ at Haldia on about 25 acres of land to facilitate IT & ITES industries for having their centers within the park.

In the Power sector, Sangam Power Generation Company and Prayagraj Power Generation Company, two SPVs floated by Government of Uttar Pradesh invited global RfQs to select a developer for setting up the 2x660 MW Sangam thermal power project at Karchhana and 3x660 Prayagraj thermal power project, on BOOM basis at Bara in Uttar Pradesh, respectively.

Among the states, Maharashtra topped the statewise list with 578 project related tenders worth Rs.4,070 crore. Chhattisgarh, Tamil Nadu and Madhya Pradesh followed with 548 tenders worth Rs.2,838 crore, 476 tenders worth Rs.2,727 crore and 312 tenders worth Rs.3,554 crore, respectively. The bulk of tenders were floated by Chhattisgarh Rural Road Development Agency for construction and upgradation of rural roads under PMGSY, which helped Chhattisgarh secure second place in state-wise list.

Private Sector

In the private sector, 43 tenders were floated during August 2008. They were mainly in the Power, Aluminium and SEZ sectors.

Some of the major tenders include:

Expressions of Interest (EoIs)

In August 2008, 90 EoIs related to Power, Sugar, Railways and Aluminium sectors were announced. Some major EoIs floated in the month were by:

Empanelment of Consultants / Contractors

During August 2008, around 12 notices were published inviting applications for empanelment of consultants and contractors. Some of the major notices were by: