The investments in the ports could range from USD 50 million to USD 500 million depending on the nature of the terminal, he said. Gibbons was speaking at a seminar on "Port Development and Investment" organised by the British Deputy High Commission here on Wednesday.

While one consortium had just started the process, the other had already done a considerable amount of work on it, he said. The lack of a counter-guarantee from the government is not an impediment to the development of ports in the country, he asserted.

Gordon Rankine, partner of Beckett Ranking Partnership, said that investment potential in the Indianport sector, especially in the four states, was quite high due to traffic congestion of low handling capacity of major ports. He welcomed the initiatives taken by these states, especially Gujarat and Maharashtra, for development of minor ports with private sector participation.

Rankine said that financial closure will be possible within three years and operations could be launched within five years for these BOT projects. He however, added that key factors involved in port development include tendering and government clearances which need to be addressed on a priority basis.

Mumbai Port Trust (MBPT) chairman, AK Mago, said that a whopping Rs 1,700 crore would be required for construction of three deep drafted offshore jetties with water depth of 13 mt. These would handle container vessels and supporting infrastructure to handle the throughput of 55.17 million tonnes by 2017.

Mago said that the private sector would be involved in the construction of berth for coal and other liquid cargo onbuild-own-operate-transfer (BOOT) basis. Tata Electric Companies has been shortlisted for this project and necessary formalities would be completed soon.

Mago said the private sector would also be invited for development of second liquid chemicals/specialised grades of petroleum products berth at Pir Pau, leasing of existing berths in Indira Docks for container handling, leasing of two terminals on long term basis for handling containers and two terminals for handling general cargo and leasing of dry docks.

BP Pandey, chief executive officer of Maharashtra Maritime Board, said that the cargo handled by 48 minor ports in the state would reach a new high of 47.88 lakh tonnes by the end of this year as compared to 3 lakh tonnes in 1992-93. Of the 48 minor ports, Vadhavan, Dighi, Anjanwel, Jaigad, Ganeshgule, Vijaydurg and Redi have been identified for private sector participation on BOT basis.

Helen Jenkins, partner of Norton Rose, said that risks involved in port projects include long realisation period,high capital investment, need for effective and efficient infrastructure, land acquisition and reclamation, relocation of local inhabitants and environmental concerns. She said that involving export credit agencies in multi-sourced project finance will remain an attractive means of financing many projects. This is in view of the general and specific risks inherent in any cross border financing.