India: Kerala Government Cabinet Spurns Welspun Offer

Yesterday, the Kerala Government Cabinet decided not to accept the tender of Welspun-led consortium for the port operator contract of the Vizhinjam International Container Transhipment Project.

According to The Hindu, this contract will be re-tendered after getting the environmental clearance.

“The government had held discussions with the consortium, and had come to the conclusion that re-tendering of the contract at a later stage would be advantageous to the government. At the same time, the government would go ahead with the preparation of the master plan and tendering of contract for engineering, procurement and construction of the basic infrastructure for the project,” said Chief Minister Oommen Chandy.

The Minister also said that though the tender had been cancelled, ongoing master planning and preparation of tender documents for building infrastructure would continue. As per the decision in 2010 to develop the port on the Land Lord model, construction of breakwater, dredging and reclamation would also be undertaken by the government.

“The cancellation of the present tendering process would not affect the project’s progress,” concluded Chandy.

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Dredging Today Staff, August 2, 2012; Image: vizhinjamport