The site, for which the Gujarat government has shortlisted three high profile bidders including the Reliance, Elf Gaz Acquitaine and Tractebel combine, shows very promising projections.

According to projections made by Consulting Engineering Services (CES), by 2001, Hazira could be handling 3.9 million tonnes of petrochemicals, 3.5 million tonnes of LNG, 5.2 million tonnes of iron ore plus 1.8 million tonnes of iron and steel products. Cement clinker will account for another 1.5 million tonnes. Total cargo is estimated at 18 million tonnes per annum.

Considering that almost all of this business is high margin, the port will be a highly profitable venture.

International Finance Corporation, hired by the Gujarat government to study its port policy, has included other commodities. According to their projections, coal traffic could be as high as 4 milliontonnes by 2001 and deoiled cake 2.8 million tonnes. Although the latter is seasonal and a sligtly low margin business, a lot of ports have been pitching for it.

IFC has however been a little more conservative as far as total potential cargo is concerned, estimating it at 15.2 million tonnes a day. What will certainly be big business is LNG handling. Notwithstanding the fact that this is a highly specialised business, where companies have to develop a seamless handling and transportation system, all port developers seem to want a share of the pie. And with LNG emerging as the preferred fuel for power plants in the area, they have been tripping over each other to sign back to back agreements with users. There are four private sector port projects in the Gulf of Khambat - the Gujarat Pipavav port, Dahej, and now Hazira and Maroli. All of them have made LNG terminals the cornerstone of their projects, leading to fears that there may not be enough business for all. Added to all this, domestic oil companies aresetting up small specialised ports, preempting huge imports of POL. If all the capacities do come up, which experts say is doubtful, the LNG handling capacity will definitely be far greater than what is needed to service Gujarat's power needs. But that is not what the state government or the bidders are looking at. To start with the Gujarat government hopes to generate more power than it needs and supply it to the power starved states like Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and anyone else who needs it. The need for LNG may extend for beyond Gujarat's immediate requirement - a matter factored into the cargo handling capacities of these ports.

While LNG may bring in the big bucks, all the port will also have to make their general cargo and container berths money making propositions.

According to Arvind Mahajan of AF Ferguson, which conducted the study for IFC, these ports will need to emerge as more than just cargo loading and unloading agencies to organisations that meet the total transport needs of the customer.Says Mahajan, "These new private ports will have to redefine their role. They will have to pick up consignments at the doorstep of say, the exporter in Ludhiana and be responsible for it till it reaches its destination." This means that port management companies will have to create a seamless system, use various modes of transport such as rail and road, as well as handle things at inland container depots. This essentially means that the focus of operations will not be quayside management and port companies will have to acquire a range of skills.