Dubai-headquartered port and terminal operator DP World has refused a request by India’s Ministry of Shipping to do a performance audit of the company’s under-performing International Container Transhipment Terminal at Vallarpdadam (ICTT), the Arabian Supply Chain reports.
DP World said that it is not liable to be audited since such provision is not stipulated in the terms of the public-private partnership arrangement signed with the government of India in 2011.
The Ministry of Shipping previously appointed and granted permission to the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG), Chennai, to carry out the audit to determine why ICTT has been utilizing only 35% of its capacity since its commissioning.
The one million TEU capacity terminal handled 361,000 TEUs in the first quarter of 2015, a 6% improvement compared to the same period a year earlier.
DP World said the main reasons for the unsatisfactory performance were delayed relaxation of country’s cabotage laws, prolonged completion of national motorway infrastructure, and non-existence of a 14.5-meter-deep berth to accommodate large oceangoing vessels.
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