Barunei port developer selection through competitive bidding

The Orissa government will select the developer for setting up of an all weather port at Barunei Muhan in Kendarapara district through competitive bidding. It has decided to engage an expert or expert agency to prepare a detailed report on the Orissa coast to help it in the process.

The expert agency will be appointed either by Industrial Promotion and Investment Corporation of Orissa Ltd.(Ipicol) or state owned Industrial Development Corporation (Idco), said commerce and transport (C&T) minister Sanjeev Sahoo.

Sahoo said, five companies have proposed to set up a port at Barunei Muhan. They are Jamshedpur based Adhunik Metalliks, U K Based Arcelor-Mittal, Chennai based SPI Ports, Sical Logistics and Mundra Port and Special Economic Zone Ltd.

Arcelor-Mittal, the largest steel maker of the world, proposed to set up a captive port at Barunei Muhan to the north of Mahanadi river near Paradip. It will have a cargo handling capacity of 30-35 million tonne per annum (MTPA) to be attained in two phases. However, the company has not indicated the quantum of investment for the port.

Similarly, Adhunik Metaliks, part of Adhunik group, plans to set up an all weather commercial port at Barunei Muhan. The project will come up in phases and the total investment in the first phase is pegged at Rs 1684 crore. It will have a cargo handling capacity of 10-30 million tonne.

SPI Ports, a division of Rs 1316 crore SPI group, proposed to develop a minor port at the same location with an investment of Rs 1550 crore. It will have 3 berths and container traffic facility in the first phase and the number of berths will go up to 12 in later phase.

The company has assured a traffic handling capacity of 41.79 million tonne per annum by 2021.

The Chennai based Sical Logistics Ltd proposed to set up a deep water all weather commercial port at Barunei Muhan. The project envisages an investment of Rs 3600 crore in phases and will have a cargo handling capacity of 46 million tonne per annum (mtpa) when fully commissioned.