CAIRO, (Reuters) - Three consortiums are competing to build a dry port west of Cairo worth $100 million, the Egyptian finance ministry said on Sunday.

The project will be a public-private partnership between the General Authority For Ports and Dry Land and the winning consortium, to be built on roughly 104 acres in 6th of October City, a suburb west of the capital.

It will be built "as a port for customs clearance of containers handled through the Alexandria and Dekheila ports, which will contribute to easing container traffic," the ministry said in a statement.

Technical and financial bids are expected to be presented in May, after which the winning bidder will be announced, the ministry said. The agreement will last up to 30 years, after which the port will be owned by the state.

Container Corporation of India Ltd leads one of the consortiums with Egypt's Hassan Allam Holding and Singapore's PSA International Pte Ltd.

The second consortium is led by the UAE's DP World in a partnership with the Egypt-based Holding Company for Maritime and Land Transport SAE.

Egypt's Elsewedy Electric leads the third consortium, which includes Schenker Egypt and Egypt-based 3A International.

(Reporting by Yousef Saba; Editing by Elaine Hardcastle)

(( Yousef.Saba@thomsonreuters.com ; +201222184730) )

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