In yet another twist to the tussle between the Orissa government and Kolkata Port trust (KoPT) over the latter’s extended area of operations, the Union ministry of shipping has directed the KoPT authorities of to put on hold the tendering process for a 270-metre long multipurpose jetty. The project was expected to come up on the Public Private Partnership-mode at a cost of Rs 290 crore.
The tenders for the jetty were to be floated by KoPT following its notification extending the port limits unilaterally. The KoPT move jeopardized the future of seven upcoming minor ports in Orissa including the Dhamara port jointly promoted by Tata Steel and L&T.
The direction to put on hold the tendering process was given to KoPT by the Union shipping secretary K Mohandas at a high level meeting held in New Delhi on Thursday.
"At the meeting held under the chairmanship of the Union shipping secretary, we had asked for strong action against KoPT for arbitrary extension of port limits. We also demanded the withdrawal of the notification extending the port limits. The Union shipping secretary has asked KoPT to put on hold the tender for the Rs 290-crore jetty and has also assured us that the upcoming minor ports in Orissa would not be jeopardized. The next meeting in this connection will be held in the first week of April”, Sanjeev Sahoo, minister for commerce & transport, Orissa government told reporters here.
On January 20 this year, the Orissa government had shot off a strong letter to the Centre on the issue of extension of Kolkata port limits. The revised port limits extends more than 200 km south of Haldia into the Bay of Bengal covering an area of 28646 sq km. It was feared that the move would effectively block the access to Dhamara port which is already developed and the access to all future ports north of Dhamara including Chudamani, Chandipur, Inchudi, Subarnarekha mouth, Bichitrapur and Bahabalpur.
The Orissa government has already signed MoU (Memorandum of Understanding) and concession agreement for the ports proposed at Chudamani and Subarnarekha mouth respectively. Even the borrow area for sand required for reclamation of land for these ports fell within the revised limits of KoPT.
However, KoPT authorities expressed confidence that the issue will be solved with in two-three months and they will be able to restart the tendering process after that. “The shipping ministry has promised the Orissa government that if their concerns are regarding the national interest, it will be considered. Till those issues are addressed, the project will not be finalised,” said M L Meena, Chairman of KoPT. The Orissa government had pointed out that it was not consulted before the issue of notification by KoPT. It stated that this unilateral action was violative of the federal structure of the country and may lead to avoidable bitterness between the governments of Orissa and West Bengal.
It further argued that the notification militates against the very spirit of the Maritime Development Policy which seeks to promote development of new ports on the PPP (Public Private Partnership) mode.
Terming the notification as highly partisan and irrational, the state government had stated that it forecloses the orderly development of modern deep ports along the coast of the country.
