DP World, PSA bid for Nhava Sheva terminal

DP World, PSA bid for Nhava Sheva terminal    Eight companies, including terminal operating giants PSA International and DP World, have bid on a $1.4 billion container terminal project that would roughly double the capacity of India's biggest port, according to a report Friday in the Indian business newspaper Mint.
   The bidders are vying for a chance to build and operate a 4 million-TEU terminal at the Jawaharlal Nehru-Nhava Sheva port complex near Mumbai, a port that handles more than half of all containerized cargo in and out of India.
   The port handled 3.95 million TEUs in 2009, slightly above the designed capacity of three-terminal complex. DP World and APM Terminals each operate a terminal while a local port trust operates the third.
   While DP World is bidding for a second terminal, APM Terminals has not been allowed to bid due to a contractual clause in the concession it won to operate its current terminal, the newest and largest of the three existing terminals. The A.P. Moller – Maersk Group subsidiary is contesting its exclusion from the bidding process in India's High Court, the report said.
   Aside from DP World and PSA International, which operate terminals in Chennai and Tuticorin, the other bidders were all domestic companies. The bid turnout was disappointing, according to the report, as some bidders were disgruntled with India's notoriously inflexible bid conditions.
   The country's major ports, under the jurisdiction of India's shipping ministry, demands a large cut of revenue from each box moved, a consistent source of friction between private terminal operations and the government. Additionally, China’s major operators — Hutchison Port Holdings, COSCO Pacific and China Merchants — have been unofficially excluded from submitting bids to operate Indian container terminals in recent years, a nod to security concerns India has about the potential naval power China could wield.
   The bid deadline was Dec. 31, though no date was given for when a decision would be made.