Govt to speed up Astaranga land acquisition

The state government has decided to complete land buying for Astaranga minor port as quickly as possible and has ordered officials concerned and the private developer to expedite the process which has been stuck for more than a couple of years due to various issues such as opposition by locals, lack of environment clearance and non-compliance of land acquisition norms.

The project needs 3,900 acres of land, including 1,464 acre of government land and 2,436 acre private land. So far, the state government has acquired 2,400 acres and needs to buy rest 1,500 acres to enable the private company to start construction.

A recent meeting convened by state minister for Commerce and Transport decided that issue of 4 (1) notification (initial notice for land buy) be made as quickly as possible by Collector, Puri. It also called for expeditious action for acquisition of the required land for port site and the economic (rail) corridor.

Hyderabad-based construction firm Navayuga Engineering Company Ltd (NECL) is the developer for this minor port, which will be built with total investment of more than Rs 6,500 crore. According to government estimate, about 13 villages under Astaranga tehsil of Puri district will be affected because of the port project. The government did not want to take any chance as no voice of opposition has been heard in past couple of months. It ordered fast execution of land acquisition process to avoid any unwanted incidents.

“Collector, Puri will apprise the Hon’ble minister, commerce and transport about the progress of the land acquisition monthly twice. The company (NECL) should do their part of the work regarding land acquisition and take necessary steps for depositing the required establishment cost at the appropriate authority,” the meeting said.

The initial capacity of the port will be 25 million tonne per annum (mtpa) which will be eventually scaled up to 70 mtpa. It may be noted that the state government had entered into Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the company on December 22, 2008.

The port will kick off operations within 48 months of allotment of land. As per the concession agreement signed in 2010, the port developer will share five per cent of its gross income during the first five years, eight per cent from fifth to the tenth year, 10 per cent from 11th to 15 th year and 12 per cent from the 16th year to the end of the lease period.