Chudamani port site faces DRDO hurdle

The Rs 1500 crore captive port proposed by Aditya Birla Group (ABG) at Chudamani in Bhadrakh district of Orissa has been pushed into uncertainty following the objections of the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO).

DRDO has demarcated a stretch of 114 kms starting from Dhamara to Kirtania in the north, within which Chudamani falls, as restricted area and has been maintaining since 1996 that there should not be any port in this stretch as it would be a security threat.

The state officials had earlier argued, though Chudamani village comes under the practice area of the DRDO, the proposed port site is located 6 kms away from Chudamani village. So it wouldn’t affect the operations of DRDO. However, this argument has failed to convince the DRDO team.

In this backdrop, the Orissa government today decided to take up the issue with the Union defence secretary requesting him to closely examine the issue. The situation was reviewed in a high level meeting chaired by the chief secretary Tarunkanti Mishra here today.

Talking to media after the meeting, which was also attended by the DRDO officials, Mishra said, the DRDO has expressed its reservation over the captive port being developed by ABG. The state government would request the Union government to reconsider the issue.

It may be noted, the Orissa government inked a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with ABG for setting up a captive port at Chudamani. The port would initially have a capacity of 3 million tonne per annum and this would be raised to 10 million tonne later.

Meanwhile, the Steel Authority of India Ltd (SAIL) has evinced interest to set up a port in the state. A team of officials of the public sector steel company met the chief secretary Tarun Kanti Mishra yesterday and discussed the issue.

Mishra has assured to consider the proposal after the company submits a detail plan following the completion of the feasibility survey.

Sources said, the port proposed by SAIL would have a cargo handling capacity of 20 million tonne and would be used for import of coal for the steel PSU.

SAIL has been advised to choose one location from among the 13 sites identified by the transport and commerce department for setting up of port.