Exit of Noble will not affect completion of Gopalpur port

The promoter of the Gopalpur port in Orissa, Gopalpur Port Ltd, today said the exit of Hong Kong-based Noble Group Ltd from the consortium developing the project would have no adverse impact on the project financials or schedule.

"Exit of NGL does not affect the financial position of the project. It will not be an impediment in the way of successful completion of the project in time," GPL Managing Director Mahimananda Mishra said.

Ruling out a new partner, he said the other two promoters -- Orissa Stevedores Ltd (OSL) and Sara International Ltd -- firmly believed that development of the all-weather port will continue as per the set timeline, as the financial position of the company was strong enough.

Mishra said NGL, which was part of the consortium that had successfully bid to develop the Gopalpur port on a build-own-operate-transfer (BOOT) basis in 2006, had made little contribution towards the project since the beginning.

It stopped being part of the board since 2007, Mishra said.

Since the exit of NGL does not violate any of the provisions of the concessional agreement signed with the Orissa government, permission for its withdrawal is expected to be granted soon, he said.

Asserting that the all-weather port project was surging ahead to meet the deadline of 2012, Mishra said Phase-2 has achieved financial closure.

When fully developed, the Gopalpur port will have the capacity to handle about 25 million tonnes of cargo.

The port handled 500,000 tonnes of cargo, including coal, iron ore, ilemnite and fertilisers, during the last shipping season, registering an increase of 90 per cent over the previous year, the GPL MD said.

To a query, he said, the empowered committee of the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests has granted environmental clearance for the project. Final approval of the Union Environment and Forests Minister was expected in the next few weeks, Mishra said.

GPL aims at constructing at least three berths to handle more cargo at the port in the next phase of expansion.

The port had started operations within three months of signing an agreement with the state government in 2006.