Orissa pulls up GPL for delay in Phase-II work

The Orissa government has pulled up Gopalpur Ports Ltd (GPL) for the delay in resuming construction work for second phase of the port project despite obtaining environment clearance for the same nearly eight months back.

The department of commerce & transport has sought up-to-date report on Phase-II construction work of the all-weather port by end of this month.

The department secretary G K Dhal in a recent letter to Mahimananda Mishra, managing director, GPL had called for expediting project work so that the work can be completed within the stipulated period.

Dhal had also sought an action taken report from GPL for protection of the shoreline near Arjipalli in Ganjam district. As per the advice of Director of Integrated Coastal Zone Management (ICZM) project, the port authorities were asked to protect the shore near Arjipalli.

Earlier, the state government had asked the port promoters to commission second phase of the port operations by March 2013.

Phase-I of GPL, which involved anchorage port operations, started in January 2007 but phase-II construction work is yet to begin. The Union ministry of environment & forests (MoEF) had granted environment clearance for the project on March 30 this year.

Land measuring 393.67 acres has already been leased out in favour of GPL and 120.16 acres is under possession of the port authorities. Steps have also been taken to lease out additional 140.2 acres of land for the port project.

Besides, in the recent review meeting on Gopalpur port chaired by the state Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, it was decided that private land required for development of the minor port will be acquired under Land Acquisition Act-1894. The state government had asked GPL to identify suitable private land and submit proposal for initiating land acquisition process.

The port project, entailing an investment of Rs 3,500 crore, would be developed in phases, and would handle 54 million tonnes of cargo.

GPL, which was originally a consortium of three companies, had signed MoU (Memorandum of Understanding) with the Orissa government in 2006 to develop the Gopalpur port into an all-weather port. The defunct port had started operations within three months of signing of the pact.

The port expansion, however, hit a roadblock when several environmentalists and wildlife activists opposed the port project, alleging that it would endanger the mass nesting of Olive Ridley turtles at the mouth of Rushikulya river. They had also raised serious concern when oil leaked from a foreign vessel which had anchored near the port two years back.

The port project was also mired in uncertainty for a while when Hong Kong based Noble Group, one of the consortium partners, pulled out of the project. Following the exit of the Noble Group, two companies- Orissa Stevedores Limited (OSL) and Sara International Limited (SIL) would develop the port project.

GPL has already claimed to have achieved financial closure of Rs 1,400 crore for the first stage of Phase-II of the deep sea port with the signing of loan agreement with a consortium of 11 banks.