DP World Ltd and a joint venture between Royal Boskalis B V and NMDC Dredging & Marine have submitted initial bids for dredging, reclamation and construction of an offshore protection bund estimated worth ₹22,323.47 crore on Hybrid Annuity Mode (HAM) for the planned port at Vadhvan in Maharashtra, but in an “unusual” move, Vadhvan Port Project Ltd extended the deadline by six days, hours after the 17 September timeline ended.
Dubai government-owned DP World has applied for the tender through Hindustan Ports Pvt Ltd, its Indian unit.
Dutch dredging giant Boskalis is teaming up with NMDC Dredging & Marine, a unit of Abu Dhabi government-backed NMDC Group P.J.S.C., to bid for the contract, the largest yet in terms of size, scale, and value for building a new port in India.
This is the first time that dredging, offshore reclamation, and shore protection works for a new port in India are being implemented under a public-private partnership (PPP) in the Hybrid Annuity Mode (HAM).
Vadhvan Port Project Ltd, a joint venture between state-owned Jawaharlal Nehru Port Authority (74 per cent stake) and Maharashtra Maritime Board (26 per cent equity), is implementing the ₹76,220 crore port, billed as India’s biggest public port with a capacity to handle 298 million tonnes (MT) of cargo a year, including 23.2 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEU’s).
The decision by Vadhvan Port Project to extend the bid submission time has come as a surprise, particularly when the project implementing authority had categorically rejected requests from some potential bidders for more time as late as 14 September.
Vadhvan Port Project extended the bid submission date some six hours after the earlier deadline ended at 3 pm on 17 September, with DP World and Royal Boskalis B.V. – NMDC Dredging & Marine filing qualification documents for the work.
The last date for bid submission has now been set at 3 pm on 23 September.
“This is an unusual and unheard-of move by Vadhvan Port Project,” said an industry source. “In government tenders, an extension of time is intimated well in advance, typically a day prior and not after the original deadline ended,” he said.
“The extension was done for more participation especially for a work of this size,” said Ravish Kumar Singh, Deputy Chairman, Jawaharlal Nehru Port Authority.
To be sure, the tender has already been extended multiple times, and all extensions have been communicated to potential bidders well before their respective deadlines.
ET Infra reported earlier that a consortium comprising Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone Ltd, Van Oord, Jan De Nul, and ISDPL (DEME Group) had teamed up to bid for the contract.
This group, though, could not submit the documents before the 17 September deadline due to a “technical difficulty”, per a source briefed on the matter.
They could not meet the 17 September deadline due to issues related to arranging the mandatory bank guarantee for the work, the source added.
Three packages underpin Vadhvan port developmen
There are three components for implementing the mega port project.
One is near-shore reclamation with some infrastructure – since Vadhvan will be an offshore port, there should be a facility next to the port to act as the landing jetty for all the activities.
The ₹ 1,648-crore near-shore reclamation work was awarded in December 2024 to Cemindia Projects Ltd (formerly ITD Cementation India Ltd).
The second component is a 10.14 km-long breakwater – the longest for an Indian port – and this contract was awarded a few months ago to Afcons Infrastructure Ltd, the flagship infrastructure engineering and construction company of the Shapoorji Pallonji Group, for ₹5,301.25 crore.
The dredging, reclamation, and offshore protection bund construction work – the largest package – will be implemented on 1,207 hectares of reclaimed land in two phases.
Package to follow 45:55 HAM payment structure
The work will be implemented on a payment structure in the ratio of 45:55, whereby 45 per cent of the upfront payment will be made by Vadhvan Port Project Ltd and 55 per cent by the PPP operator on a concession period of 15 years, including 5 years for construction (in two phases of 3 plus 2 years) and 10 years for operation and maintenance.
According to the HAM model approved for implementing the works, the first 45 per cent of the total project cost will be paid as a fixed amount in five equal instalments during the construction phase by Vadhvan Port Project, while the remaining 55 per cent will be paid as variable annuity amount towards balance bid amount along with interest on the residual debt after the completion of the project depending upon the value of assets created over a 15-year concession period.
The operation and maintenance (O&M) cost for 10 years (shore protection bund) has been pegged at ₹171.79 crore.
The bidder quoting the lowest cost will be awarded the project.
Once the port construction is completed, the cargo terminals will be developed on a PPP mode.
Vadhvan Port will have 9 container terminals with a total quay length of 9,000 meters, equipped with over 100 quay-side gantry cranes to accommodate container ships with a length overall of 350 meters or more.
It will also have liquid cargo berths, a Ro-Ro facility, general/coastal/breakbulk cargo berths, a common railyard, tank farms and storage areas.
