NEW DELHI: Jindal Steel and Power Ltd has emerged as the highest bidder for developing the western dock of Paradip Port with a likely price of Rs 2,400 crore. The Naveen Jindal-owned company has quoted a price of Rs 54 per metric tonne for 25 million tonnes annual cargo handling capacity, sources close to the Development told TNIE.
Other bidders in the race are Essar Port, which quoted Rs 51 a tonne, and Navyuga Engineering which quoted the price of Rs 49 a tonne. Adani Ports and SEZ, which had also shown interest in developing the port, is out of the race as it did not complete some technical documents.
The results of bids will be announced in a day or two, the sources mentioned above added. JSPL, which is one of the country’s major private sector steel manufacturers, has been planning to develop a port on the eastern coastal line to secure transportation of steel from the Angul plant, Odisha.
“We need a port, preferably closer to our Angul plant. While our first choice is Paradip Port, if that does not materialise, we would like to develop one between Paradip and Gopalpur,” managing director VR Sharma had told TNIE in December last year.
The company has plans to expand the capacity of its Angul plant from 5.4 million tonnes (MT) at present to 25.2 MT in a phased manner over the next nine years. The plan to own a port is to ensure the plant does not face logistical issues in the future.
Explaining the rationale for bidding for a port, the JSPL MD had said: “If we do not have logistics for such a huge capacity, we would be in trouble. The existing railways and road links won’t be enough to handle 25 million tone steel capacity, whether it is for exports or transportation within the country,” says the MD.
He had also added that it is better to transport via vessels even within the country than through roads or trains. Once the company successfully bids for a port, it would seek permission from railways for a dedicated freight line to connect the plant with the port.