To float new tender soon with revised terms
Container Corporation of India Ltd (Concor) has scrapped a tender to hire two container ships for 10 years to start coastal shipping business after the lowest bidder pulled out his quote before the Navratna company launched a reverse auction.
Reverse auction is a mechanism followed by state-run firms to gauge whether any of the qualified bidders are willing to offer a rate lower than the one discovered through the initial bidding process.
Mumbai-listed Shreyas Shipping & Logistics Ltd had quoted about ₹1.9 crore per voyage to emerge the lowest bidder for the deal in the second round of tendering. The other bidders included Japan’s Mitsui & Co Ltd-backed Global United Shipping India Pvt Ltd and Seaport Cargo Logistics Pvt Ltd, a unit of the CVR Group that runs Krishnapatnam Port in Nellore district of Andhra Pradesh.
“When we were about to start the reverse auction process, Shreyas withdrew its offer,” a Concor official said, asking not to be named. The price quoted by Shreyas, he said, was 40 per cent higher than the estimates worked out by Concor.
The state-run rail hauler of containers will invite fresh bids for the contract after changing some of the tender terms.
Read more on The Hindu Business Line.
