A partnership of Hutchison Whampoa Ltd and Indian construction firm Larsen and Toubro is one of the three groups bidding for Mumbai's $260 million port project, the South China
Morning Post
said on Wednesday.
The pair are in the running after India last month reversed a Ministry of Defence decision taken in October to strike Hong Kong-based Hutchison from the list of eligible bidders on security grounds, the paper said. Taiwan's Evergreen Marine Corp was also banned from bidding in October, the paper said.
If Hutchison wins, Mumbai will be the company's first project in India and its second in the south Asian region.
Hutchison Port Holdings (HPH), a unit of Hong Kong tycoon Li Ka-shing's Hutchison Whampoa, teamed up with Larsen and Toubra to submit technical proposals last month on the project after the ban was lifted, it said.
HPH would not comment on whether it was bidding for the project but said that it was never banned by the Indian government from bidding.
"HPH has never received any communications from the relevant authorities on the subject matter, thus we are not aware of any restrictions being placed on our possible port investments in India," the company said in a written reply.
{{/usCountry}}"HPH has never received any communications from the relevant authorities on the subject matter, thus we are not aware of any restrictions being placed on our possible port investments in India," the company said in a written reply.
{{/usCountry}}Other bidders for the Mumbai port project included a partnership of India's United Liner Agency and the Port of Hamburg and a group led by Gammon India Ltd, the paper said.