Economic Times: Cochin Shipyard Stuck with Three LNG Carriers as Private Companies Back Out

State-run Cochin Shipyard may alone have to build three liquefied natural gas (LNG) carriers as private yards baulk, raising the risk of delivery delays for GAIL's ship charter plan, a key 'Make in India' initiative in the oil sector. GAIL plans to charter at least nine LNG vessels to bring home from the US up to 5.8 million tonne of gas annually from early 2018 

After multiple tenders and extensions, the company has received bids from two Japanese consortiums for this. Each bidder had to bid for at least three ships of which at least one has to be made locally. 

"Bids are not fully aligned with the tender," a source close to GAIL said. The Japanese consortiums have sought several deviations in their bids and GAIL executives will spend a month or so talking to bidders, understanding their points, persuading them to withdraw those deviations and reach a common ground, sources said. Once the common ground is reached on techno-commercial criteria, probably in two months, GAIL will open price bids, a source said. MORE