Two special berths approved for Paradip Port

By PTI | Apr 03, 2007, 02.10 PM IST

Bhubaneswar: In a major boost to its activities, the Centre has accorded 'in-principle' approval for construction of two special berths at Paradip port with an investment of Rs 930 crore to handle import of coke and export of iron ore from Orissa.

"The in-principle approval was accorded to these projects on Friday last. We will soon go for tenders as the special berths will be developed on public-private-partnership mode", Paradip Port Trust (PPT) Chairman K Raghuramaiah told reporters here last night.

He said the two special berths would raise PPT's existing cargo handling capacity to 71 million tonne per annum from 51 mt now. Besides, the port also handled 1.5 million tonne of other containers.

While it has been decided to develop the special coal handling berth at an estimated cost of Rs 550 crore, Rs 380 crore has been earmarked for the iron ore berth, said a senior PPT official.

Mentioning that both the special berths would handle 10 million tonne of cargo each, the official told PTI that the port aimed at using the coal berth for imports while the other berth would be used for exporting iron ore from Orissa.

Sources said while a major bulk of iron ore was being exported to China through Paradip port, the special coal berth would feed several upcoming steel and other industries.

Besides, PPT has also received offers from some garment manufacturers in India to handle their cargo. "The proposal relating to handling garment cargo is in a preliminary stage", he said.

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