HYDERABAD: Ramayapatnam port continues to be jinxed with contractors shying away from taking up the job of constructing the port. This has forced the Andhra Pradesh government to postpone the tender thrice so far.
AP Maritime Board had floated the tender for constructing the first phase of the port with four berths and allied activities like dredging in November. However, it extended the last date of filing tenders thrice and the latest deadline is February 15.
With regard to the two other ports - Bhavanapadu and Machilipatnam - APMB decided to change the location for the first one and scope for the second as a result of which the two port projects will face more delays than Ramayapatnam, sources said.
The Telugu Desam government had put all the three port projects in the backburner apparently under the influence of the existing private port operators.
Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy, however, wanted the officials to fast-track these projects. While he cleared ambiguity over the location of the port by finalising Ramayapatnam, he asked officials to explore the possibilities of launching operations in the defunct Machilipatnam, one of the oldest ports in India.
Sources said the government had chosen to build the Ramayapatnam port at its own cost instead of going in for the PPP mode and called for tenders.
"Megha Engineering India Limited initially showed keen interest to build the port in joint venture with companies having experience in constructing ports," sources said adding that they raised several queries also. However, it developed cold feet, sources added.
Tata group also raised queries in response to the bid document and at one stage even proposed to take up the project under PPP mode but the government did not respond.
Aurobindo Group, which recently acquired majority stake in Kakinada Deep Water Port, is said to have been in consultation with potential partners.
