A workaholic by training and temperament, Subrat Tripathy is a man of few words and shuns publicity. After having had his graduation from the Ravenshaw College, he completed his masters’ degree from the JNU and was called to join the civil services in 1988. He opened his innings in the Indian Railways and put 25 proud years of his career proving his mettle as a rare achiever. He has garnered a rich treasure mine of experience relating to operations of the railways, especially in port connectivity projects, construction and project management of new lines/gauge conversions/doublings projects of the Railways. During his long and chequered career in the Railways, he was at the vanguard of many ambitious enterprises including his posting at the Paradip Port Trust as its Deputy Chairman with the additional charge of the Chairman. He quit his senior position in the Railways and was called to lend his inexorable healing magic wand to the Dhamra Port Company limited (DPCl) as its Chief Operating Officer (COO) from November 2013. Wherever he has worked, he has successfully translated his dreams into reality, touching mud and leaving them all gold. He now has a vision plan to take the Dhamra Port on a rollercoaster ride to further dizzy heights of glory. In an interview to The Pioneer, Tripathy spoke to Sugyan Choudhury on the DPCl and some related subjects.
How is DPCl different from other ports of IndiaIJ
Each maritime State of India has a major port which is administered centrally except Tamil Nadu. Our Paradip Port is also doing very well. But in today’s context, ports are very important and indispensable economic gateways and nearly 90% of India’s freight by volume and 70% by value are routed through ports only. In other words, economies of scale can best be achieved through deep ports. The mantra of Dhamra and the port sector of India of which Dhamra is a mascot is that we are a deep port fit to receive cape-size vessels in the bulk cargos such as coking coal for steel plants and for export of iron ore to various other countries. Our unique selling proposition is that we are having draughts close to 18 meters, unique in India. There are other cape-size ports like Mundra, Krishnapatnam, Gangavaram and, of late, Jaigarh. But we are the deepest port in the eastern seaboard looking after a large hinterland spread across Odisha, especially north Odisha, and the landlocked States of Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh and some portion of West Bengal because of the inability of having deep ports in the Gangetic basin. This is the uniqueness of the Dhamra Port.
What are the phases of Dhamra completed so far and what about its commercial activitiesIJ
The Dharma Port commenced its commercial operations in 2011 with two berths and with a capacity of handling material system. Presently, it has two additional berths built with great speed and efficiency. It is a new unique PPP project, the buzz word for development in India. It is a public-private initiative which means it is as much a private enterprise in terms of efficiency as much as it is a public property. A concession agreement was signed in 1988 between the Odisha Government and promoter ISP. Then, the ISP gave way to the Tatas and the l&T, who commissioned the port in 2011. Then came the present promoter APACZ from the house of Adanis. The port is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Adani Port ACZ ltd and they own ten important ports in India, the premier port being Mundra which has reached the magical figure of 100 million tonnes. With acquisition of the Dhamra Port by the Adanis since 2014, we have added two more cape-size berths with great speed and efficiency. Now, we have four berths and one MHS, which has been largely improved and enlarged. We have gone in for intensification of mechanisation, which means per-unit of land utilisation vis-à-vis the cargo handled, we are the best in India. So, our answer is intensification of mechanisation so that efficiency and productivity through the ports are ushered into Indian industry and economy.
What are the contemporary facilities available at your port after expansionIJ
Originally, we had one import berth with two unloading cranes with capacity of 2,800 tonnes with the best state-of-the-art technology. Of late, we have added a capacity of three such cranes which means we are capable of unloading more than 60,000 tonnes of cargos, thereby enabling us to unload a cape-size vessel in two and a half days, parallel to the best of its kind in the world and indeed in India. Then, we have the iron ore loading streams with a capacity of 5,500 tonnes per hour which probably is the best in the world. Thus, the mechanisation in unloading means we have now five cranes, two streams, two cape-size streams and one stream which is capable of unloading 5,000 tones of cargos per hour. The present promoters believe that with the intensification of mechanisation, the cargo unloading can be enhanced to 7,000 tonnes per hour. With this target, we have faster efficiency in unloading, stacking, reclaiming and loading into railway wagons. Now, we have silos of 4,000 tonnes capacity, which means we can load a goods train which has a capacity of 3,900 tonnes only. Hence, many efficiencies and improvements are getting into our system.
What are the plans to increase the connectivity of your portIJ
The Ministry of Railway has entered into a joint venture agreement with us and, accordingly, our port has obtained the status of non-government railway. We are connected from Bhadrak in the south to Ranital in the north, which is again connected to Kharagpur, Jamshedpur, Jharkhand and to Kolkata. Thus, we have an ideal network what we call a ‘Y’ connection and our trains can move seamlessly without surface crossing from either side. We have 62 km of railway connectivity, and we are doubling the system besides an idea of a dedicated freight corridor between Delhi and Kolkata and up to Chennai gaining momentum. We are part of that grandiose enterprise with the Government of India. The idea of a coastal economic zone and coastal rail dedicated zone is also in the offing, and we must be connected accordingly in days ahead.
What’s your considered opinion regarding the Sagarmala ProjectIJ
The Sagarmala Project is a very ambitious project of the Union Government. It speaks about many things. Primarily, it is all about ports-led development and modernisation, port industrialisation, coastal zone development and coastal zone employment. First of all, we are modernising our port. We have already reached 100-MT capacity, and we have submitted a proposal to the Government of India to augment it to 300 MT. The Government has accepted our proposal and issued ToR (Terms of Reference). Many ports in India are dreaming of 300 MT, and we are the first of the block to have submitted a proposal to the effect. The DPCl shall certainly emerge to its quintessential heights of glory in near future. You are aware that the lNG is the first of its kind in the eastern seaboard where we are going to have an investment of Rs 5,000 crore. We shall have exclusive berths, degasification plants and a large array of pipelines connecting across Odisha and then reaching out to all other States like West Bengal, Chhattisgarh, Bihar and UP. These are some of the initiatives we have undertaken under the Sagarmala strategy.
Odisha has 480 km of coastline. Do you think all possibilities have been exhausted for building up of new portsIJ
‘Heard melodies are sweet, but those unheard are sweeter still’. Today as a port, we are a very important intrinsic and embryonic link to the Steel Authority of India ltd’s Rourkela and Bokaro, Tata and the like. The Union Government has identified 11 locations in which ports will come up, and at least two ports, one at Subarnarekha and one at Astarang are coming up to meet the emerging necessity of cargos of Odisha and the landlocked Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Bihar and some parts of West Bengal.
How do you prefer to keep your boredom at bayIJ
I am passionate about wildlife and travelling where I spend my time as and when I avail the same. We are close to the Bhitarkanika National Park and Gahirmatha Sanctuary, and we believe that man and nature, industries and the flora and the fauna can mutually coexist.
