Post News Network
Bhubaneswar, Oct 29: Allegations of massive manipulations in a tender process and ultimate awarding of the bid by the Paradip Port Trust (PPT) to Essar Port Ltd (EPL) have come to the fore.
The private conglomerate doctored bid documents to win the tender and PPT, without a semblance of scrutiny and verification, played ball, said sources having direct knowledge of the development. Ultimately, EPL and its subsidiary Vadinar Oil Terminal Ltd (VOTL) were declared winner of the BOT (Build-Operate-Transfer) project.
PPT gave the BOT and a deep draught coal berth (DDCB) project to Essar though the private player did not meet even a single parameter given in the request for quotation (RFQ), sources said.
The concession agreement that Essar reportedly signed with Kandla Port Trust (KPT), based on which it won the PPT tender, was a complete eyewash, sources said.
The RFQ clearly states that the prospective bidder must have operation experience in respect of a PPT project that may have been undertaken on a BOT, BOLT, BOO or BOOT basis and provide free access to users. EPL does not meet these criteria.
Further, its tariff structure and plan were not verified and approved by the Tariff Authorities for Major Ports (TAMP) — a mandatory obligation for all ports. In the records of KPT and the ministry of shipping, it is clearly mentioned that VOTL is a captive facility of the Essar group and it does not adhere to a non-discriminatory policy — a key condition in the RFQ.
As captive port projects are meant to handle cargo of the applicant or its group company and as such give first preference to this, VOTL does not qualify for the tender, a source pointed out.
Accusing fingers have also been pointed at public sector PPT, which allegedly did not scrutinise the tender documents though it has an army of experts and consultants on its rolls for this purpose.
The evaluation team of the port trust and its consultants were supposed to rigorously examine the applications to see whether criteria stated in the bid documents are met, but they failed to do their duty, sources said.
Interestingly, Essar produced certificates issued to it by its statutory auditors Deloitte to back its credentials, but the testimonials are allegedly bogus, a source said.
The public port authorities awarded the CQ-3 berth work to Essar without securing the mandatory authorisation from the ministry of shipping — a statutory requirement under section 42 (3) of the Major Port Trusts Act, 1963.
It was alleged that the qualification criteria and tender conditions were tailormade to suit a particular party. Normally, standard tender documents are issued by the ministry of shipping, which are originally drafted by the Planning Commission. However, the port authorities allegedly made radical departures from the standard documents to favour the private party.
PPT has been urged to order an independent probe to check if the qualification of Essar is in order and if the concession agreement entered into by PPT with the private party is legally valid. The port authorities have also been urged to cancel the award under Artilce 15.1 (a) of the concession agreement if irregularities are found.
Efforts by this newspaper to speak to PPT authorities did not bear fruit as calls went unanswered.
