The Kolkata Port Trust, now renamed as Shyama Prasad Mookerjee Port, has decided to rejuvenate its Kidderpore Docks (KPD) at an estimated expenditure of Rs 186 crore through Public-Private-Partnership (PPP) mode, a senior port official said on Monday.
This will be the first PPP in the Kolkata Dock System. The rejuvenation programme will be implemented in KPD-I West, one of the four parts of the KPD, and it will help increase its cargo handling capacity by 4-5 times, the official said.
"The project will be implemented in two phases. It is expected to yield 2.5 million tonne of cargo per annum in phase-1. In phase-2, three more berths shall be developed and capacity addition of 1.5 million tonne per annum is expected," the ports chairman Vinit Kumar said.
The programme will work on Build-Equip-Operate-Transfer basis for a period of 30 years and the bidder who will pay the highest revenue to the port will be the new operator.
"Currently, the total KDS cargo handling is 2 million tonne. But, after the modernization in KPD-I West, it will alone be capable of handling 2.5 million tonne. It will be operational in two years," said the deputy chairman of KDS, S Balaji Arun Kumar.
The request for qualification (RFQ) for modernization of KPD-I West has been floated.
"We will continue to operate the three other parts of KPD," Kumar said.
With no new recruitment, the reduction in manpower is hurting operations in the KPD and this is a reason to go for PPP, an official said.
The KPD-I West will be equipped with at least two Mobile Harbour Cranes, five Reach Stackers and 10 Tractor Trailers. Any other equipment which may be required will be deployed by the PPP operator, he said.
The port expects that the process of handover should be completed in the next six months.
(This story has not been edited by News18 staff and is published from a syndicated news agency feed - PTI)