Orissa submits revised proposal on Barunei Muhan port

Keeping in view the impact of setting up a port at Barunei Muhan in Kendrapara district on the Gahirmatha Wildlife Sanctuary, the Orissa government has submitted a revised proposal to the Union ministry of environment & forests (MoEF) on setting up of the port project.

Earlier, the MoEF in a letter in December, 2009, had asked the state government to redraw the limits of the proposed port as the site came within the Gahirmatha Marine Wildlife Sanctuary.

"We have submitted a revised proposal to the MoEF on the setting up of a port at Barunei Muhan keeping in view the latter’s concerns over the site. We are awaiting the MoEF's response after which we will initiate appropriate action for setting up of the port”, Sanjeev Sahoo, minister for commerce & transport said in response to a query in the state assembly.

The minister said, five developers including London-based ArcelorMittal, Jamshedpur-based Adhunik Metaliks, Chennai-based SPI Ports Ltd, Chennai-based Sical Logistics and Mumbai-based Mundra Port & Special Economic Zone have evinced interest in setting up a port at Barunei Muhan.

Responding to a separate query on the Subarnarekha port project, he said, Creative Port Development Ltd has submitted a detailed project report (DPR) prepared by the Chennai-based L&T-Ramboll Consulting Engineering Ltd. The state government had signed a concession agreement with the port developer on January 11, 2008.”

As per the DPR, the port will handle 14 million tonnes per annum (mtpa) of cargo in the first phase which would be subsequently scaled up to 35 mtpa in Phase-II and 50 mtpa in Phase-III.

In response to another query, the minister said, the Dhamara Port Company Ltd is setting up an all-weather port at Dhamara on the Build, Own, Operate, Share and Transfer (BOOST) basis.

This port involved an expenditure of Rs 3239 crore and DPCL has so far invested Rs 2780 crore on the port project.

In addition to this, the Gopalpur Port Limited, a special purpose vehicle formed by Orissa Stevedores Ltd and Sara International, which is developing the seasonal port at Gopalpur into an all-weather port , has invested Rs 122 crore in the first phase, he added.

It may be noted that the state government had identified 14 locations for the development of ports- Gopalpur, BahudaMuhan and Palur in Ganjam district; Baliharichandi and Astaranga in Puri district; Jatadhari Muhan in Jagatsinghpur district, Barunei Muhan in Kendrapara district, Dhamara and Chudamani in Bhadrak district; Inchuri, Chandipur, Bahabalpur, Subarnarekha Mouth (Kirtania) and Bichitrapur in Balasore district.