The port had floated two global tenders, one for the long term lease of two container terminals along five berths in Indira docks and second, for the lease of two terminals for general cargo and also five berths at India docks.For container terminals, the last date has been extended by a month to June 30, 1999 while for the general cargo terminals the last date has been extended from June one to July one this year, MbPT officials told PTI.

While a large number of parties - both domestic and foreign- had expressed interest in the project, evidenced by the sale of tender papers, sources said that this had failed to translate into actually putting in their bids.

In fact, Port sources said, some of the interested parties have been asking for more time to put in their bids, since the tenders were floated around 75days back.

According to sources, the parties who wanted more time had said that a +big study+ of the project was required before they submitted their bids for it.The minimum cost of the project has been estimated at Rs 250 crore, however the tenderer with the highest quote will be awarded the project provided all other technical specifications are fulfilled. Around 22 parties have purchased tender documents for the container terminals while 12 parties have shown interest in the general cargo berths, sources said.

The projects will be awarded on BOT (build, operate, transfer) basis.Port sources said that many, among those interested wanted to do an extensive physical survey of the project area as apart from the actual terminals they also have to develop the back up area and container freight stations.

The tender conditions stipulate that the successful bidder would have to guarantee a minimum throughput and productivity. Equipping the berths would be the responsibility of the party and port sources saidthat what was most important was that it required co-odinated operation by a single agency.