In what may set a precedence for companies with same parentage bidding for big-ticket infrastructure projects in India, the government has rejected the application of PSA International and Neptune Orient Lines, both owned by Temasek Holdings, a Singapore government-owned investment entity.

According to government sources, Ennore Port Ltd (EPL), which had issued a request for qualification (RFQ) for developing the Rs 1,300-crore mega-container terminal on a build-operate-transfer (BOT) basis, invoked the commonality-of-interest clause, as per the advice of the Planning Commission. PSA is fully-owned by Temasek and NOL, 68 per cent.

PSA has, however, contested the move stating that the two companies had distinct management structures and were not related in any other way.The Planning Commission, which is corresponding with SBI Caps, the consultant to the port public-private partnership project has, however, said the two were majority held by Temasek and hence did not qualify for the project.

The project is already mired in controversy with some big global operators not making it to the final shortlist because of poor scores. Besides PSA and NOL, Dubai’s DP World, another big operator, too does not figure in the shortlist of six. The new ‘model’ RFQ norms for infrastructure projects specify that only six operators be short-listed. This itself has become an issue being challenged in court by some of the 22 consortia that put bids for the project.

Ennore Port had issued the tender inviting bids for the development of the 1,000-metre container terminal in April this year. However, soon after the final shortlist of developers was announced, four operators, including PSA dragged the government-run port authority to court questioning the basis on which the companies were short-listed and seeking a stay on the tendering process.

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