Congress smells scam in Orissa port development

As a counter-offensive to the ruling Biju Janata Dal (BJD's) mounting opposition to the Congress led UPA government at the Centre over the 2G spectrum scam, AICC general secretary Jagdish Tytler has accused the regional outfit of massive corruption in selection of developers for eight upcoming minor ports in Orissa.

Tytler, who is in charge of the Congress party's affairs in the state, alleged that the scam in each of the ports was to the tune of Rs 40,000 crore, meaning an overall scam of Rs 3.2 lakh crore for the eight ports, which has higher than the 2G spectrum scam.

He said, the Orissa government had selected the port developers without the tendering process.

The Congress would launch a movement against this corruption of massive scale. We would also press for a CBI enquiry into the matter”, he added.

However, Sanjeeb Sahoo, the state minister for commerce and transport has trashed the allegations of Tytler.

The port projects are being implemented and developers are selected as per rules and procedures. We have always ensured that the state gets the maximum revenue out of the development of these port projects”, he said.

It may be noted that Orissa had identified 14 possible locations for development of minor ports.

The state government had signed concession agreements with Navyug Engineering Ltd, Gopalpur Ports Ltd, Creative Port Development Ltd and Dhamara Port Company Ltd for setting up ports at Astaranga, Gopalpur, Subarnarekha and Dhamara respectively.

This apart, the state government has also an MoU with Essel Mining and Industries Ltd for setting up an all-weather port at Chudamani in Bhadrak district.