Orissa government, which has identified 14 potential sites for the development of minor ports, has requested the Government of India to formulate a policy to provide rail and road connectivity to these ports on the lines of those provided to the major ports.
“We have requested the Union ministry of shipping to introduce a policy so as to provide rail and road connectivity to the minor ports as it is done in the case of major ports. The ministry has informed us that an apex body has been constituted in this connection and a policy framework for offering road and rail connectivity to the minor ports is under consideration,” an official source told Business Standard.
Union shipping secretary K Mohandas had called on the state Chief Secretary T K Mishra at the state secretariat on Saturday. Guru C Ray, special secretary, commerce and transport, Orissa government; P K Mohapatra, Revenue Divisional Commissioner (central division); K Raghuramaiah, chairman of Paradeep Port Trust (PPT) and S K Mohapatra, chief executive officer, Dhamara Port Company Limited (DPCL) were present on the occasion.
The port developers who have entered into concession agreements with the state government have committed to build rail and road connectivity to the ports. Initially, the cost of such connectivity will be borne by the developers but this cost will be adjusted against the concession fees to be paid by the developers.
Eventually, the state government will bear a part of the cost of the rail and road connectivity.
Though this connectivity is meant for the ports, it will be utilized by the public and other rail users of the area in the future.
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In view of the above considerations, the state government has requested the Centre to come out with a policy for providing rail-road connectivity to the minor ports. Among the 14 locations identified by the state government for the development of ports are Dhamara, Jatadhari Muhan, Barunei Muhan, Astaranga, Bichitrapur, Chudamani and Kirtania to name a few.
The state government had already inked concession agreements with the developers for ports at Dhamara, Gopalpur and Kirtania. In-principle approval has also been given by the state government to Posco India for the establishment of a captive port at Jatadhari Muhan.
The Orissa government has also signed MoUs (Memorandum of Understanding) with the Hyderabad-based Navayuga Engineering Private Ltd and Aditya Birla Group for setting up of ports at Astaranga and Chudamani, respectively.
Besides, many entrepreneurs have also evinced interest to develop ports in the potential locations identified by the state government.