PAKISTAN: Bids invited for Gwadar port and road projects

06 March 1998
NEWS

The government has invited bids for the construction of a deep water port at Gwadar and a road linking the port to Rotadero. The total cost of the two projects could be in excess of $1,000 million, industry sources say.

The port, being handled by Karachi Port Trust (KPT), will include the construction of a multipurpose cargo terminal with three berths of 200 metres each and dredging a 7.5-kilometre channel to a depth of 11 metres. The project will also include the procurement of cargo-handling and marine equipment, maintenance facilities, a service jetty and slipway, offices and residential accommodation for port employees. Total costs are estimated at $200 million. The successful bidder will be expected to finance 80 per cent of the total cost.

The road will connect Gwadar, in south-west Pakistan, to Rotadero, 895 kilometres away. Initially, the road will have single lanes with a later expansion to two lanes in each direction. The project is being handled by the National Highway Authority. Costs could be about $800 million. Bidders are expected to be asked to raise a significant portion of the financing.

KPT had previously drawn up a prequalification list for the port project, however bidding is open to all suitably-qualified companies. Interested companies are likely to include Hyundai Corporation, Daelim and Daewoo Corporation, all of South Korea, Turkey's STFA Tamel, China Harbour Engineering Company, Iran Marine Industrial Corporation, Italy's Grandi Lavori Finconsit, Belgium's Besix and Athens-based Joannou & Paraskevaides (Overseas).

The government has been considering plans to combine the two projects and says it will give priority to companies which bid for both the port and the road. Bids for both projects are due to be submitted by 23 May (MEED 14:11:97).

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