Vedanta arm wins tender to redevelop Mormugao port in Goa

New Delhi: Metals major Vedanta today said its subsidiary Sterlite Ports will redevelop Mormugao port in Goa on Develop, Build, Finance, Operate and Transfer (DBFOT) basis for 30 years.

Sterlite Ports, a wholly-owned subsidiary, will be signing an MoU pursuant to 'Letter of Award' for redevelopment of existing berths 8, 9 and barge berths at Mormugao port on DBFOT basis for a concession period of 30 years with the Mormugoa Port Trust, it said in a regulatory filing.

The project is awarded to Vedanta through a competitive bidding process, it added.

"The redeveloped berths are planned to handle all types of cargo including iron ore, coal and general cargo with an expected capacity of 19.22 million tonnes per annum (MTPA). Redevelopment of the berths would be done over a period of 3 to 5 years," the filing said.

Vedanta is the largest exporter of iron ore from Goa and this project would provide logistic integration to its iron ore business apart from handling other cargo, it added.

The Letter of Award was handed over today to Vedanta's Iron Ore business CEO Kishore Kumar by Mormugao Port Trust Chairman I Jeyakumar, in presence of Shipping Minister Nitin Gadkari, at the Maritime India Summit being held at Mumbai, it said in a statement.

"The ramp-up of the Goan iron ore industry beyond 20 MT through this port will be a significant gateway for the mining industry in the state giving them the added advantage of end to end scale of operations in terms of cargo movement and consolidation," Kumar said.

The firm led by mining baron Anil Agarwal was permitted to mine 5.5 million tonnes of iron ore in 2015-16 fiscal from Goa, with the total cap by Supreme Court being 20 MT for the entire state. Mining operations started in 2015 in Goa after the apex court had banned it in 2012.

Vedanta had said earlier this week that its Goan iron ore arm reported sales of 1.6 million tonnes (MT) during January-March quarter of the last fiscal.

The firm also clocked a production of 1.9 MT during the reported quarter of the last fiscal, even as the production was impacted due to delay in transportation rate negotiations with the truckers.

For the entire fiscal, Vedanta said production in Goa was 2.2 MT and sales was 2.2 MT, including 1.4 MT of traded ore purchased from the e-auctions.