Construction of the terminal, for which the Aitken Spence/PSA consortium is the highest bidder, still has not been approved.
The 70:30 joint venture bid a combined $183m for the contract, involving construction of a 2.4m teu capacity container terminal, scheduled to open in 2010.
Colombo Port Expansion Project is the largest project undertaken by the Sri Lanka Ports Authority. It is a government build and own harbour facility with private-public partnership on terminals.
The SLPA had said it expected to award the construction tender by July 2007.
The cost of the new port infrastructure and the first three terminals has been put at $1.2bn, which will be partly financed by an ADB facility.