Gopalpur consortium sure of securing cargo

Having signed a concessional agreement yesterday with the Orissa government to develop Gopalpur port into an all-weather port, the consortium set up for the purpose is confident of lining up the cargo for it.

A large part of the cargo could be mobilised through shifting of operations from Paradip and Visakhapatnam ports, consortium sources said.

The consortium led by Orissa Stevedores (OSL), Sara International (SARA) and Hongkong-based Noble Group (NOBLE), after signing the agreement, announced its decision to invest Rs 1700 crore in the project.

On completion, Gopalpur port would be the third largest port in the state after Paradip and proposed Dhamra port, the sources said.

"At the moment there are about 3 million tonne of cargo waiting to go through the port. Gopalpur-based Indian Rare Earth's 0.25 million tonne cargo is now channelised via Visakhapatnam, while OSL handles 1.5 million of alumina import through Viskhapatnam,"DP Singh, MD of SARA, said.

"The cargo is available. Once the port is operationalised, the cargo will be shifted to Gopalpur port. We hope to have some shipments at Gopalpur minor port in January," Singh said.

"The consortium's own cargo which is about 1 mt of iron ore would be routed through Gopalpur ... We are using Haldia, Paradip and Visakhapatnam to import and export iron ore," he said.

The consortium plans to combine its members' cargo strength to put the port on revenue generating mode in the first year itself.