All eyes on March 20 for Chhara LNG deadline
You would think Japan's IHI could afford to be complacent about winning the tender to set up storage tanks at HPCL-Shapoorji Energy's proposed 5m t/y Chhara LNG terminal in Gujarat.
But industry sources say IHI might be upstaged by a consortium of South Korea's POSCO and Daewoo with India's Vijay Tanks & Vessels, also expected to bid by the March 20 deadline in the delayed tender to set up two Chhara tanks, each of 200,000 cubic metres. IHI at first seems to have an advantage because it has built almost all the onshore tanks at India's established LNG terminals and is expected to bid with Shapoorji company AFCONS for Chhara.
Further POSCO and Daewoo's partner Vijay were disqualified by Shell and Total in the tender to expand Hazira capacity. "(South) Korean companies are known to quote very low prices to win contracts," says a source.
So it's anybody's guess who will win. HPCL-Shapoorji issued the tender end-January and held a pre-bid in Mumbai on February 9.
Meanwhile, for the regasification facilities tender, bids are due on April 26 and a pre-bid is scheduled in Mumbai on March 10. HPCL Shapoorji sold tender documents between February 20 and 27 to shortlisted companies Toyo Engineering, CTCI with Cinda, Black & Veatch with Tata Projects, and Sener with AFCONS.
Interested bidders can carry out site surveys before the pre-bid.
