Kochi:

The CPT board, which met here, also decided to invest Rs 92.9 crore for buying new equipment and expanding the existing Rajiv Gandhi Container Terminal and deepening the channel.

CPT chairman Jacob Thomas said at the meeting that CPT and the central government are jointly working for reengineering the project and redefining the concession agreement.

Depending on the feedback from the prospective bidders, some more concession may be incorporated in the draft agreement to make it more investor-friendly. This process will be completed by the middle of December 2003.

The central government, in the meantime, is also exploring the possibility of entering into a government-to-government agreement with some foreign nations like Singapore, he said. A sub-committee of the board consisting of some trustees will go into the conditions of the present agreement and suggest modification to make it friendlier to investors. The first meeting of the sub-committee will be held on 21 November.

The port officials will also go to Mumbai to discuss with various terminal operators and shipping lines to get the real feedback on the requirements to be incorporated in the draft agreement to get competitive response.

The two bidders, Maersk and CSX World Terminals, had backed out from submitting the price bids, casting doubts on the financial viability of the project. It was then decided to modernise and expand the RGCT immediately and then take up the Vallarpadam project.

As per this plan, the board decided to process the various investment proposals such as procurement of one quay side gantry crane costing Rs 35.9 crore, three RTG cranes costing Rs 22.5 crore, expansion of container stacking yard at a cost of Rs 3 crore, procurement of reach stackers for Rs 1.5 crore and deepening the channel to 12.5 million spending around Rs 30 crore.

Another sub-committee of the board has been formed to monitor the implementation of the proposals.