New firm likely to bag contract to manage Birgunj ICD
KATHMANDU: The management contract of the Inland Container Deport (ICD) at Birgunj will soon be awarded to a new firm, as the extension of additional six-months following the 10-year contract of the Himalayan Terminals Private Limited (HTPL) is going to expire this month.
As per Nepal Intermodal Transport Development Board (NITDB), the process of global tender has been completed and an evaluation committee has been formed to evaluate the bidders. The committee of experts, lawyers and officials will evaluate double envelope bid (technical and financial).
It is reported that the three bidders are vying for the management contract, namely, the Container Corporation of India (CONCOR), Priston India and HIND Terminal, India. The HTPL that is currently managing the ICD owns majority share in CONCOR India and has been managing the ICD since 2000. It had signed a 10-year contract to operate the ICD in 2004.
As per the NITDB, the firm selected from the international bid, has to compulsorily come up with Nepali joint venture.
“The bidder that meets the qualifications of both financial and technical aspects would bag the contract,” according to Laxman Basnet, executive director of NITDB.
Basnet further informed that after the committee selects the suitable firm, the final decision will be made through the meeting of board of directors.
The port manager company has to provide services like transport clearing, parking yard management and warehouse handling as well as reach stacker services. On the technical aspect, the NITDB has set the qualification for the bidders as having at least five years of experience in doing such job and three years of experience in port management or handling freight station terminal.
Likewise, the financial aspect requires the interested firm to have an annual turnover of at least Rs 200 million and liquid assets amounting to half of the amount of its total annual turnover.
One of the bidders has proposed to pay royalty of Rs 800 million per annum to the NITDB, according to sources familiar with the bidding process. Birgunj ICD is the country’s only rail-linked terminal that facilitates bilateral cargo to and from India as well as third country exports and imports.
Birgunj ICD was constructed in 2000 with World Bank’s assistance. The warehouse, parking yard and related other infrastructures are going to be expanded under the Nepal-India Regional Trade and Transport Project (NIRTTP) under the World Bank’s assistance, in view of the increased traffic over the past 14 years.
The World Bank assisted project has proposed to fund the disabling of two of the three currently unused lines by building a cement platform that will be used for loading and unloading and truck crossing.
According to World Bank’s study, the ICD was handling 9,000 TEUs (20-foot-long intermodal containers) in 2000 and it has increased to nearly 20,000 TEUs at present. The number is expected to rise further in the coming days. Likewise, the current warehouse shed is only 40 metres long, whereas the length of the train is 70 metres, leaving unloaded goods vulnerable to the elements.
Source: THT
