JNPT board may okay PSA-ABG bid today

MUMBAI: The board of trustees of the Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust is likely to accept the bid of a consortium of Port of Singapore Authority and ABG Ports for building a fourth terminal at the country's largest container port. The board will meet on Monday to decide on awarding the rights for developing the Rs 6,700-crore terminal.

“The project is now on course and it is most likely that the bid will be accepted ,” said a port official who did not want to be named. The PSA-led consortium had emerged as the highest bidder for the contract in July and had agreed to share half the revenues with the government , a record earnings-sharing arrangement offered at any Indian port by a private player.

ABG holds 26% stake in the consortium. Last month, some of the trustees had raised doubts over the performance of ABG at Kandla port in Gujarat , where it is jointly operating a terminal with PSA. JNPT then set up a committee, headed by its deputy chairman, N N Kumar, to look into ABG's performance as container traffic at Kandla had suffered a sharp fall during the past six years.

It will submit its report on Monday. DP World, Adani Group, Maerskled APM Terminals and the PSAABG consortium had bid for the JNPT project in October last year.