'Port projects worth Rs 50k cr awaiting environmental nod'

According to Assocham study bulk of plans stuck in state of Tamil Nadu, Gujarat

Investment proposals worth Rs 45,00-50,000 crore in the port sector is awaiting environmental clearances with with bulk of the plans stuck in Tamil Nadu and Gujarat, a recent study by the Associated Chambers of Commerce (Assocham) said.

Several PSUs and private sector firms have lined up fresh investment in multi-purpose and specialised ports. However, the maximum of environment clearances are pending in regard to Tamil Nadu and Gujarat, the study which analysed the official data, suggested.

The data up to March, 2013 showed that a host of projects were pending green clearances for ports such as Kancheepuram, Udangudi, Vanagiri, Mannad and Chetinad. Projects were also pending in Gujarat and Maharashtra.

The Assocham study noted that the impact of slowdown in the international commodity trade is divergent on different ports. For instance, the average growth in cargo handled in Tamil Nadu ports has been quite low between 0.2 per cent and 3.2 per cent. With a coastline of 906 km, have three major ports at Chennai, Ennore and Tuticorin and 15 non-major ports.

Likwwise in Andhra Pradesh, the average trend growth in cargo handled has been dismal in the last three years with 2012-13 showing a decline of 1.9 per cent and the previous two years showing a meagre expansion of less than two per cent. While Maharashtra has been a little better, growth in the state has also dropped to 3.4 per cent in 2012-13 from six per cent in the previous year, reflecting a slowdown in the economy.

Ban on export of iron ore seems to have taken a toll on cargo performance at Goa ports where cargo traffic plummeted to 21 million tonnes in 2012-13 from 60 million tonnes in 2011-12. Karnataka managed to do well, while Kerala kept the falling trend.

In a somewhat a similar contrast, while Odisha managed to do well with 14 per cent growth, West Bengal saw a let- down with about seven per cent drop in cargo handled from its ports.

But Gujarat has registered growth with over 9-12 per cent growth. Likewise, the state has done better in terms of capacity creation.