The Orissa government has presented a Rs 1,200 crore infrastructure plan to the Government of India (GoI) for providing road and rail connectivity for the minor ports coming up along the Orissa coast.
"We have submitted a Rs 1,200-crore plan to the GoI for providing road and rail connectivity to the upcoming minor ports”, state Chief Secretary B K Patnaik told media persons after a review meeting on port projects chaired by Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik.
According to the proposal, the cost of rail and road connectivity for the minor ports would be shared equally between the Centre and the port developers.
Earlier, the state government had requested the Union ministry of shipping to introduce a policy so as to provide rail and road connectivity to the minor ports as in the case of major ports.
The ministry which had constituted a committee for this purpose had come out with a cost sharing formula according to which the cost for developing rail and road connectivity for the minor ports would be shared between the Centre, the Orissa government and the port developers in the ratio of 50:30:20.
However, the Orissa government is unlikely to bear the cost of developing the rail and road infrastructure for minor port projects.
Meanwhile, of all the minor ports proposed in the state, the Dhamara port has become operational and it is expected to handle 15 million tonnes of cargo this year, the Chief Secretary said. As the Dhamara Ports Company has nearly finished laying of rail line connecting the port with Howrah-Chennai mainline, the cost will be adjusted against the concession fees to be paid by the developer.
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On the minor ports at Gopalpur and Subarnarekha mouth, he said, there are issues related to land acquisition which will be sorted out soon.
The state government had recently asked the promoters of Gopalpur Port to commission second phase of its operation by March 2013.
Asked on the opposition raised by the Defence Research & Development Organization (DRDO) over the development of some of the minor ports in the state, Patnaik said, “We are regularly holding discussions with the DRDO on this matter”.
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 of minor ports at Dhamara, Gopalpur and Kirtania.
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.