Gopalpur port operations set to begin from March 2013

Gopalpur port being developed at Arjepalli in Ganjam district in south Odisha, will start its operation from March 2013. This is despite the fact that the state government is yet to approve the new board of Gopalpur Port Ltd (GPL), the special purpose vehicle developing the seasonal port at Gopalpur into an all-weather port.

“We are aiming to start operations from March next year as we expect to complete construction of at least one out of three ongoing berths. The berth will have cargo handling capacity of around 3.5 million tonnes,” said MM Moharana, director (operations) of GPL.

“The new board of GPL is yet to be approved by the state government due to some technical problems. We hope to get the approval in the next two months,” he added

“If the weather conditions permit, the dredging of the port will start from September,” Moharana said.

GPL had won the award from the Odisha government in 2008 for developing the Gopalpur port on build, own, operate, share and transfer (BOOST) basis at a cost of Rs 1,700 crore. Initially, GPL was promoted by three partners- Odisha Stevedores Limited (OSL), Sara International Limited (SIL) and Hong Kong based Noble Group.

However, the port project was pushed into uncertainty after Noble Group exited the consortium. Later, SIL which held 50 per cent stake also pulled out and consequently its stake was sold to Jindal Steel and Power Limited (JSPL).

For running the port’s commercial operations, three berths would be constructed- one each for coal and iron ore with the other being a multipurpose berth. The port also expects to receive 125,000 dwt (dead weight tonnage) super vessel by 2016.

GPL is yet to avail bank loans so far for port expansion, even though financial closure was achieved for the project about two years ago.

It had signed a loan agreement with a consortium of 11 banks for a total amount of Rs 846.78 crore. OSL is investing its own funds for the ongoing construction, Moharana claimed.