India Ports Global Ltd (IPGL) is working on options to buy cranes and other container handling equipment for Chabahar Port in Iran, including an arrangement whereby an entity based in Abu Dhabi, Dubai or Sharjah will source the gears which will be passed on to the India-funded port as New Delhi looks at ways to break a six-year jinx surrounding equipment purchase that has stalled start of full-fledged operations.
The move comes after India Ports Global, the state-owned entity formed to develop and run the India-funded Chabahar Port in Iran, scrapped tenders floated a year ago to buy cranes and other container handling equipment in September due to no shows by suppliers even after several extensions of time to place price quotations.
“We are now going ahead without tenders for acquiring equipment for Chabahar Port,” a government source with knowledge of the matter said.
“We are looking at a different plan and are in discussions with a few suppliers directly to move quickly on buying equipment for Chabahar Port,” he said.
According to the source, an entity based in Abu Dhabi, Dubai or Sharjah will buy the equipment and get them delivered at their respective destination ports from where they will be transferred to Chabahar Port.
“For instance, an entity in Dubai says that it can source the equipment for Chabahar Port using the exemption letter granted by the United States of America, which they feel is more than enough to carry out the task,” the source said.
Indian officials involved in the Chabahar Port project have held discussions recently with officials in Abu Dhabi Port, Dubai Port and Sharjah Port. These ports will finalise the equipment purchase contracts directly with the vendors and the cost will be refunded by India in dollars, he said.
“We are weighing different options, something will work out,” he said, sounding confident about the plan.
Multiple attempts to buy the equipment since 2017 have failed as suppliers are wary of quoting on contracts due to the sanctions imposed by the West on the Persian Gulf nation over its nuclear programme.
