The Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI) has scrapped a tender to select a private firm to operate, manage and develop (OMD) a multi-modal terminal at Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, on NW-1.
The tender has been scrapped due to lack of response from bidders. In a separate yet related development, the government has revealed that only 20 of the 106 NW declared by the Centre through a new waterway law is technically feasible for shipping and navigation.
Dubai’s DP World, Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone and JM Baxi Group were shortlisted to bid for the project for which the request for proposals (RfPs) were invited by IWAI in July 2019.
Phase-I of the multi-modal terminal at Varanasi was built by IWAI with an investment of Rs 200 crore (excluding land cost) with a capacity to handle 1.26 million tonne of cargo. It is one of the three terminals built by the waterways development agency on the 1,400 km long Varanasi to Haldia stretch on NW-1 funding from the World Bank funding. The other two such terminals are located at Sahibganj and Haldia.
The terminals at Varanasi and Sahibganj have started commercial operations, while Haldia terminal is slated to be inaugurated soon. Under the tender terms, the winning bidder will operate and manage the terminal having road connectivity to NH-7 for seven years, after which it will be responsible for developing Phase-II of the terminal with an investment of Rs 334.38 crore. Phase-II will have rail connectivity with an investment of Rs 85 crore.
The project with a final rated capacity of 3.85 mt will have a concession period of 30 years and can be extended by another 30 years. The bid was to be decided on the basis of the highest royalty per tonne quoted by the bidder.
The bidders had sought bundling of all the three multi-modal terminals, but this was not agreeable to IWAI due to the varying schedule of completion of the three terminals.