Vedanta, Essar vie for Rs 845cr ore handling proj in Vizag

Industrial majors Vedanta and Essar Groups are in the race to get the Rs 845 crore worth Ore Handling Complex (OHC) project at Visakhapatnam Port, a senior official of the port said. The OHC project would be awarded on design, build, finance, operate and transfer (DBFOT) basis once the necessary approvals come from various government agencies, the official said.

According to the official, the project involves upgradation of the existing terminal and also creation of a new facility with a total outlay of nearly Rs 845 crore, including Rs 170 crore upfront fee to the port.

"The Planning Commission had given its consent for the project in February. We have sent the proposal to the Ministry of Shipping and from there it will go to the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs. "We will have to get security clearances from the Ministry of Home Affairs also. We have Vedanta and Essar as the bidders. It will take two to three months to award the 30 year-contract to the bid winner," the official told PTI. Currently, the existing Iron Handling capacity of the port is at 12 million tonnes and with the expansion it may go up to 23 tonnes, the official added.

The Shipping Ministry had set a target of 70 million tonnes for Vizag port for all commodities in 2012-13. The port lost about 7.1 million tonnes cargo mainly on two commodities -iron ore and petroleum products. It handled 12.24 million tonnes of iron ore and 15.08 million tonnes petroleum products against 16.07 million tonnes and 18.40 million tonnes, respectively, in the previous year.