The Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways (MoPSW) has given go-ahead to the Paradip Port Trust (PPT) for setting up a riverine port on the Mahanadi.
The proposed port would come up at Akhadasali village under Mahakalpada Block in Kendrapada district. Sources said the PPT had evinced interest to develop the riverine port as the Odisha Government had decided to set up such a port on PPP mode.
Accordingly, the MoPSW has green signaled the PPT to sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Odisha Government in this regard, said sources.
This will be an all-weather and multi-user port at the river mouth of the Mahanadi, which will be built and maintained by the PPT, official sources said.
In 2018, the Odisha Government had decided to go ahead with the first riverine port. The port was to be developed in two phases. The PPT took interest in the project and Chairman Paradip Port, Rinkesh Roy took a lot of efforts in this regard to convince the Union Government about the bright future of the proposed port on the Mahanadi.
In the first phase, two berths will be established for transportation of 18.43 Million Tons of cargo Per Annum (MTPA) for which expenditure is estimated to be to the tune of Rs 2,110 crore.
The requirement of land for the initial phase development of the port has been estimated at 175 hectares. The proposed port will be connected to the National Highways-53 and Haridaspur-Paradip Railway Line for transportation of cargo.
The capacity of transportation of cargo will increase from 18.43 MTPA to 45.88 MTPA, and an additional 125 hectares of land will be required, an official said.
On commissioning, the port will provide about 4,300 direct and indirect employments in the first phase, and about 10,700 in the second phase, they said.
The Paradip Port has already been assessing the port cargo from the riverine port and accordingly is planning to develop the port to meet the requirement for the next 50 years, said sources.