Eredene Capital Plc, the AIM (alternative investment market of the London Stock Exchange) quoted investor in Indian infrastructure, has won a bid in a consortium to build and operate the container terminal at Ennore Port in Tamil Nadu. The estimated project cost of the terminal is 207 million pounds (Rs. 1,428 crore).
According to a release, Eredene bid for the project in consortium headed by Spain's leading port operator, Barcelona-based Grup Maritim TCB SL together with international construction group Obrascon Huarte Lain SA and one of India's leading construction, power and engineering conglomerates, Lanco Infratech.
The consortium was given a letter of award in relation to the project on June 26 by Ennore Port. Six contenders had been shorlisted.
Work on the new Ennore Container Terminal is scheduled to take 33 months and it is expected to be operational by the end of 2013. Concession will be awarded on a build, operate and transfer (BOT) basis for 30 years.
The terminal will have a quay length of 1,000 metres and an estimated throughput of 1.5 million TEUs (Twenty-foot equivalent unit) annually. It will provide 15-metre water depth at the berths and will be able to handle three container vessels of up to 8,000 TEUs simultaneously.
Stake in consortium
Eredene has a 22 per cent stake in the consortium, and the equity commitment is about 23 million (about Rs. 158.70 crore). This commitment will initially be funded through existing cash reserves and then through the raising of additional capital into Eredene.
The Eredene group team is headed by Nikhil Naik, who was formerly regional director of P&O India and CEO of Mundra International Container Terminal.
Grup Maritim at present operates 13 terminals in ix countries with a total installed capacity of 4.5 million TEUs.
