Minor port projects hit hurdles of defence and environment ministries

The Orissa government's ambitious plans to develop as many as 14 minor ports has not picked up the desired momentum, thanks to the hurdles posed by the Union ministries of defence and environment & forests.

Barring Dhamara and Gopalpur, most of the other minor port projects in the state have been non-starters for the want of the necessary clearances from the two ministries.

“Most of the non-major port projects have been held up in the state due to obstacles post by the ministries of defence as well as environment & forests”, admitted a top official of the state government.

“The state is committed to develop minor ports and we are going to review the status of these projects by the end of this months. Then, we will take up the issues of these ports with the two Union ministries to expedite the clearances”, he added.

The state government had identified several locations for development of minor ports and noted developers like Essel Mining and Industries Ltd, ArcelorMittal, Infrastructure Leasing & Financial Services (IL&FS) and JSW Infrastructure have evinced interest in setting up minor ports off the coast of Orissa.

The locations identified for the development of the minor ports are Inchuri, Bahabalpur and Bichitrapur in Balasore district; Jatadhari Muhan in Jagatsinghpur district, Barunei Muhan and south of Barunei Muhan in Kendrapara district; Chudamani in Bhadrak district, Palur and Bahuda Muhan in Ganjam district and Astaranga and Baliharchandi in Puri district.

The state government had signed MoUs (Memoranda of Understanding) with Creative Port Development Ltd for setting up a port a Kirtania in December 2006; Navayuga Engineering Company Ltd for a port at Astaranga in December 2008 and also with Essel Mining and Industries Ltd, an Aditya Birla Group firm, for establishment of a port at Chudamani in October 2009.

Among the minor ports, only the Dhamara port has surged ahead, kicking off trial operations and aiming to resume full scale operations by the end of December this year. Around Rs 2700 crore has already been invested into the port operations.

Gopalpur Ports Ltd is aiming to develop the seasonal port at Gopalpur into an all-weather port but the capacity expansion work has been held due to pending environmental clearance.

On the other hand, the Ministry of defence has expressed its reservations over the ports coming up between Dhamara and Kirtania and this has cast doubts over the port projects proposed in the region.

The defence ministry had objected to construction of a port at Chudamani by Essel Mining and Industries Limited, an Aditya Birla Group company, Since the proposed port was close to the missile testing centre at Wheeler Island in Bhadrak district and the Integrated Test Range at Chandipur in Balasore district, the DRDO) had objected to the project.

Other port locations which were opposed by the defence ministry were Bahabalpur, Inchuri, Chudamani and Bichitrapur.

However, the state government has asserted that it would go ahead with development of ports in these identified locations despite the defence ministry's objections.

Another issue of concern is the road and rail connectivity for these minor projects.

“We have suggested that the Centre should develop the road and rail connectivity for the minor ports on the lines of the major ports. However, the Centre is yet to give us any assurance in this connection”, the source said.