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Dubai Ports awards $150-million ICTT project to Simplex Consortium

KOCHI: Dubai Ports (DP) World awarding the civil works contract for India’s largest transshipment container terminal on an island (Vallarpadam) off Kochi city last week comes as a big piece of news for the country and Kerala that has pinned so much of its hopes of new phase of economic development on port-based activities, including a special economic zone, a liquefied natural gas terminal and a ship repair facility.

DP World that is operating Rajiv Gandhi Container Terminal for Cochin Port Trust through its subsidiary India Gateway Terminals Private Limited (IGTL), awarded the civil works contract for the transshipment terminal project last Thursday to Simplex Consortium, a listed civil engineering and construction company for around $150 million.

The award of the contract marks the beginning of a major journey for India’s maritime business that is poised to grow several folds in the immediate future. The realisation of the project will be a major achievement for Kerala that saw several obstacles, the latest being a spate of flash strikes at the Rajiv Gandhi container terminal by labour unions.

At the same time, Vallarpadam International Container Transshipment Terminal (ICTT) will be a facility that Indian maritime business will look up to once it is operational. “Vallarpadam will be a key facility in our network of 42 terminals globally,” said Ganesh Raj, Senior Vice-President of and Managing Director of DP World, sub-continent region. He said that DP World was committed to Cochin for the long term and to meeting the growing needs of Indian customers.

DP World has the mandate for building ICTT and operate it for 30 years.

The project site was declared a special economic zone in November last year and rail and road connectivity projects to the transshipment terminal site are underway. Construction work on the transshipment terminal project is expected to begin next month and the first phase is expected to be completed in two years.

Meanwhile, the tender for dredging works to provide the 14.5-metre draft at the channel for the ICTT and to widen the channel is ready for issue.

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