Sea-link consultant likely to be named by Feb-end
HERALD REPORTER
PANJIM, FEB 20
With the State government showing keen interest in making the Panjim-Vasco sea-link project a reality, the finalisation of appointing a consultant for a techno-economic feasibility study is likely to be done by the month-end.
Director of the
government’s public private participation (PPP) cell, Anupam Kishore who doubles up as joint secretary, Finance Department, said that there was a good response to the invitation by the State government for appointment of a consultant.
Altogether seven firms of international repute, some of them having tie-ups with consortiums in Hong Kong, Singapore, etc, had applied. Of these, three were shortlisted after they made detailed presentation here, in the pre-qualification exercise.
The chief secretary-headed bid evaluation committee has evaluated the bids on technical and financial criteria and has submitted its recommendation to the government for its approval, Kishore said.
For the final evaluation, 80 per cent weightage is on technical criteria and 20 per cent on financial criteria.
Enquiries revealed that the file is with the chief minister. “The decision on finalising the consultant is expected soon”, a source said.
Bid committee: The members on the bid evaluation committee for appointment of consultants include: Sanjit Rodrigues (managing director of Goa State Infrastructure Development Corporation), P V K Nair (general manager GSIDC), Anand Sherkhane (joint secretary Budget), representative of Maharshtra State Road Development Corporation, Mumbai, finance secretary with Anupam Kishore as member secretary.
Nasser Munjee, Charles Correa and Umesh Naik are special invitees on the committee.
Terms of reference: The consultant will have to conduct techno-environmental financial study, concept design, technical feasility with alignment, investigation, and financial and economic feasibility. Later, it will also have to undertake environmental impact assessment, environmental clearances and social impact assessments. The consultant will be required to prepare the bid documents for appointment of BOOT (build, own, operate and transfer) operator and concession agreement, etc.
The bid documents were prepared as per the Planning Commission’s guidelines on combined quality cum-cost based
systems (CQCCBS) with 80 per cent weightage on quality and 20 per cent on cost.
GSIDC: After completion of the procedural issues, the work will be entrusted to GSIDC for monitoring and supervision until completion and commissioning of the project, Kishore said.
PROPOSAL: The ambitious project was announced in the budget speech 2009 by Chief Minister Digambar Kamat and the work of taking up the feasibility study was entrusted to a PPP cell. A provision of Rs 100 crore was also announced in the budget.
After studying the proposal for which a team was also sent to the much-talked about flyover in Mumbai, the project got the approval from the Goa
cabinet.
There was a suggestion for an under-water tunnel. But with fears that the cost will jump considerably, it may not be financially feasible to add this feature, an official said.
BENEFITS: What will be the benefits of the projects to the user? The PPP cell director, at a seminar on the sea-link recently, mentioned the benefits that would be accrued from the project.
Presently, he said, the people of North Goa have to use NH-17 to reach the Dabolim airport which is situated in Vasco around 35 km from the capital city. “If the sea-link is built, the distance will be reduced to only 6 km, thereby saving upto 6-7 litres of petrol per to
and fro trip”, Kishore claimed.
Considerable reduction in traffic as well as pollution level is envisaged. The proposed sea link will also provide faster and quicker connectivity to the expanding MPT port giving direct boost to industrial development in Goa, he said.
The State government believes that the project will also serve as a catalyst in the proecess of setting up of a logistic centre in Goa for economic development.
In the event of the proposal Mopa airport coming up, the distance from South Goa to Mopa airport will be considerably reduced by 30-35 kms, Kishore said.
Moreover, the sea-link, he said, will provide direct linkage between the existing Dabolim airport and proposed Mopa airport thereby giving a boost to the dual airport system.
He has also said that the heavy cost of land acquisition in case of widening of NH17 may be avoided. However, it is to be seen whether there is any mention of this aspect in the NHAI proposal of 4/6 laning of NH 17.
Financial viability: The estimated cost of the project will be more than Rs 1000 crore. Kishore said that 40 per cent of the total cost will be made available by the Centre in the form of Viability Gap Funding.
He said 20 per cent of the
cost will be borne by the State government while the remaining 40 per cent will be made available from private sector investors. Eventually, it has to be viable on its own. He further said that the consultants have been asked to prepare alternative financial models.
Connecting points: The State government will leave it to the consultants to finalise where the connecting points will be. As per one design, it could be Dona Paula but according to another considering the road connectivity, it could be Bambolim, sources said. The connecting point on the other side of the River Zuari is yet to be decided; Chicalim cannot be ruled out.
