Gopalpur port expansion hits green hurdle

The Rs 950-crore second phase expansion plan of the Gopalpur port is likely to be delayed by a year as the project is yet to get the environmental clearance from the Union Ministry of Environment and Forest (MoEF).

The second phase expansion of the port which aims to raise the port's capacity to 20 million tonnes per annum was scheduled to be commissioned in 2011.

The port expansion has not got the MoEF nod despite the request made to the ministry by the state government following the recommendation of the Orissa State Coastal Zone Management Authority (OSCZMA).

As the port project is yet to get the environment clearance, the development of the seasonal port at Gopalpur into an all-weather major port will be delayed by about a year, said a source at the Gopalpur Port Limited (GPL), the special purpose vehicle developing the port.

Gopalpur Port Limited (GPL) is a consortium formed by Orissa Stevedores Limited (OSL), Sara International Limited, New Delhi and the Hong Kong-based Noble Group.

The delay in the environmental clearance for the port is attributed to the stiff protests from the wildlife activists and environmentalists who fear that the port expansion would impact the famed Olive Ridley turtles which congregate every year at the Rushikulya river mouth, about 40 km from here.

The project expansion work is unlikely to be completed as per the schedule as the development work has almost stopped without the environmental clearance, Manmohan Moharana, director, GPL told Business Standard.

He, however, said GPL would complete the project within two years of getting the environment clearance.

The Gopalpur port was started its operations within three months of signing of the memorandum of understanding (MoU) between the state government and GPL for the development of the port in 2006. The project is estimated at about Rs 1200 crore and GPL has already invested around Rs 250 crore in the first phase on developing infrastructure to enable the second phase expansion of the port.

“We have invested around Rs 250 crore in the project so far”, said Moharana.

A consortium of banks led by the State Bank of India (SBI) is likely to fund the second phase port expansion. The other bankers in the consortium are Punjab National Bank (PNB), Bank of India (BoI) and Allahabad Bank to name a few.