THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Five consortiums are in the fray for the global tender floated on behalf of the State government for the proposed Rs.5,348-crore International Container Transhipment Terminal at Vizhinjam. They are: 1. DS Constructions Limited, Appolo Enterprises Ltd. and the Dubai-based KGL Ports International; 2. Nagarjuna Construction Company Ltd., Maytas and the Singapore-based OPM; 3. Videocon Industries Ltd., Gammon India, Gammon Infra and Sical Logistics; 4. Lanco Infratech Ltd., Lanco Power and Pembinaan Redzai Sdn Bdh and 5. Zoom Developers and the United Kingdom-based companies Portia Management Service and Peter Fraenkel and Partners.

The deadline for submitting the bids ended at 4.30 p.m. on Thursday. At a press conference at the office of the Vizhinjam International Seaports Ltd., the agency formed by the government to facilitate the project, Minister for Ports M. Vijayakumar said the technical bids would be scrutinised first. Responding to a question, he said the government hoped to award the tender after these procedures within four or five months.

“We have at last reached the beginning of the process for bringing this dream project into fruition,” he said.

This is the second time the government had gone in for a global tender for this mega project, which, according to Mr. Vijayakumar, could change the face of southern Kerala by catalysing trade and industrial development in the region. Only one bidder, a consortium with the participation of two Chinese companies, participated in the previous tender. For national security reasons, the attempt of the previous United Democratic Front (UDF) government to award the tender was stopped by the Union government.

The Left Democratic Front (LDF) government now in office subsequently called a global investors’ meet to woo major Indian and foreign companies. Forty-three companies had participated in the global meet.

Mr. Vijayakumar said the suggestions received at the investors’ meet were incorporated in the tender document while re-tendering the project. Thirty-three companies had purchased the tender documents. Of them, 16 are involved in the five consortiums that have now submitted the bids.

Source : The Hindu