Private sector to infuse Rs 186cr to rejuvenate Kidderpore docks

    Kolkata, Jun 29 (PTI) 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. PTI BSM
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(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)