The last date of submission of bids for the offshore container terminal of Mumbai Port Trust has been fixed at 31 August 2006, after extending it at least 12 times since November 2005. This follows the Union shipping ministry's directive issued  on 18 August 2006 to Mumbai Port Trust asking the port to proceed with the bidding process without Hutchison Port Holdings.

The defence ministry, it may be mentioned, was dithering on its decision of allowing Chinese companies to participate in bidding for Indian shipping infrastructure projects. This led to a considerable delay in finalizing bidders for Mumbai Port Trust's third offshore container terminal project. In the meanwhile, the shipping ministry on several occasions requested MbPT to extend the bid submission deadline with a view to accommodating HPH in the bidding process.  HPH had tied up with Larsen & Toubro in bidding for the project.

In early August 2006, it was learnt through unconfirmed reports that the government had finally decided to deny security clearance to three Chinese companies bidding for Indian maritime projects.

Larsen & Toubro, in June 2006, teamed up with Manila-based International Container Terminal Services Inc, and is very much in the race along with ten others.

The Rs.1,200 crore offshore container terminal involves setting up of two container berths of 350m each. In the first phase, around Rs.300 crore will be spent on deepening the channel and creating supporting infrastructure, such as the rail link.

Also See:

Final denial to Chinese firms in Indian port sector? (05-Aug-06)

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