NEW DELHI: India has changed its strategy to source four new ship-to-shore or so-called rail mounted quay cranes (RMQCs) to be erected at the Government-funded Chabahar Port in Iran by asking potential suppliers to deliver the cargo handling equipment in Mumbai per a new tender floated recently.

The change in sourcing strategy is aimed at sidestepping the sanctions imposed by the United States on Iran that foiled two earlier attempts by India, spread over five years, to buy the crucial cargo handling gear and help start full-fledged operations at Chabahar Port.

“We are trying all possible ways to buy the new cranes,” said a person briefed on the matter.

India Ports Global Ltd, the state-owned entity formed to develop and run the Chabahar Port, issued a fresh tender on 26 September, the third since 2017, to buy the post Panamax size cranes of 65-ton capacity each.

The second tender, issued on 31 August 2020, ran for two years through 27 extensions before it was scrapped on 23 June this year.

The tender, which was discharged, had received interest from at least two firms, but they were reluctant to put price quotations due to the continuing sanctions on Iran by the West against the Persian Gulf nation’s nuclear programme. The sanctions made it difficult for foreign banks to open a letter of credit (LC) that assures payment to the supplier despite a sanctions-waiver given by the United States to the Chabahar Port project.

The fresh tender has retained almost all the conditions set by the previous one and added a few new rules, with the big change pertaining to the delivery of the cranes in Mumbai instead of the supplier shipping it directly to Chabahar Port.

“From Mumbai, India Ports Global will take the responsibility of transporting the cranes to Chabahar port,” said the person, a Government official in Delhi, mentioned earlier. “That’s the plan, let’s see how it works out,” he added.