Tata Steel may participate in Gopalpur port development

State govt had selected GPL to develop the Gopalpur port into an all-weather port in 2008 on BOOST basis at a cost of Rs 1,200 cr

Tata Steel, which is developing a multi-product Special Economic Zone (SEZ) along with an industrial park near Gopalpur in south Odisha's Ganjam district, is likely to participate in the upgradation of the minor port at Gopalpur.

Gopalpur port is being upgraded by Gopalpur Port Limited (GPL), a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV), currently owned by Orissa Stevedores Limited (OSL) and Sara International Ltd (SIL) after the exit of another original promoter, Hong Kong based Noble Group.

The state government had selected GPL to develop the Gopalpur port into an all-weather port in 2008 on BOOST (build, own, operate, share and transfer) basis at a cost of Rs 1,200 crore.

"We are exploring possibilities on how to participate in the company (GPL) to develop the port," said Arun Misra, vice president of Tata Steel's Gopalpur project. He, however, did not give details on modalities of the participation.

Since GPL had already signed agreement with the state government for port development, the steel major can't be an equity partner in GPL for three years of its commercial operations, said director (operations) of GPL, Manmohan Moharana. GPL commenced its commercial operations in May last year.

Moharana, however, said, if the steel major wants it can develop an exclusive berth in the port to handle the company's cargo. For this, permission from the government is not necessary.

"Tata Steel had sought some necessary documents from us for study. A team from the Singapore-based consultancy firm Jurong, which has been engaged by Tata Steel to prepare the roadmap of the industrial park, had also visited the port to study its infrastructure facilities," he added.

During the visit of Tata Group's chairman Cyrus Mistry to Gopalpur in September, the state's higher education minister and MLA (Gopalpur) Pradeep Panigrahi had requested him to participate in the development of the Gopalpur port, an airport at Rangeilunda and Berhampur University. The Tata Group chairman had assured him to consider the proposals, said Panigrahi.

Operation of Gopalpur port, which was projected to resume from December this year, is likely to be delayed. Some portion of the breakwater of the port was damaged due to the lash of high tidal wave under the influence of very severe cyclone Hudhud on October 12 this year.

"The loss due to Hudhud would be known only after survey of damages. The first round survey is completed," Moharana said.

Functioning of the port had come to a standstill in the aftermath of the cyclonic storm Phailin last year. The port had suffered loss of around Rs 150-crore then.