MUMBAI, May 15 -- In a milestone for the proposed Vadhvan Port near Dahanu, Afcons Infrastructure has secured the contract to construct the offshore breakwater for the deep-draft port project, touted as India's largest container port. Once completed, the breakwater itself will be the largest ever built for any port in the country. A breakwater is a durable, engineered structure, typically a wall of concrete or stone, built from the coast into the sea, or placed parallel to the shore, to shield harbours, coastlines, and beaches from the force of waves, tides, and storms The high-value contract witnessed participation from four major infrastructure consortiums, Larsen & Toubro-Archidon Group (Netherlands), Afcons Infrastructure, ITD Cementation India (part of Adani Group)-NMDC Dredging & Marine, and Hindustan Construction Company-Vishwa Samudra Engineering. Of these, the first three bidders qualified the technical scrutiny and were shortlisted on Wednesday. On Thursday, the port authorities opened the financial bids. The planned breakwater, stretching 10.14 km into the Arabian Sea, had an estimated project cost of around Rs.5,300 crore. Afcons Infrastructure emerged as the lowest bidder after quoting Rs.5,301.26 crore for the project. ITD Cementation India, part of the Adani Group, quoted Rs.5,383 crore, while L&T submitted a bid of Rs.5,394 crore, an official said. The offshore breakwater is considered one of the most critical components of the Vadhvan Port project, as it will protect the harbour from rough sea conditions and enable year-round operations at the all-weather port. Located in Palghar district, the upcoming Vadhvan Port is planned to handle 23.2 million TEUs (Twenty-foot Equivalent Units), a standard measure used in the shipping industry to calculate cargo handling capacity. The mega port is being developed by Vadhvan Port Project Limited, a special purpose vehicle with 74% stake held by Jawaharlal Nehru Port Authority and 26% by the Maharashtra Maritime Board. Being developed at an estimated cost of Rs.76,220 crore, the all-weather, greenfield, deep-draft port will become India's 13th major port and Maharashtra's third major port after Mumbai and JNPA. According to project details, of the 574 hectares identified for the project, nearly 50% falls under forest land, while the remaining land has been classified by the revenue department as belonging to various private owners....