The Odisha government has initiated the process to resume 269 acres of mined out land of Indian Rare Earths Ltd (IREL). This patch of land will be leased out to Gopalpur Ports Ltd (GPL) for expansion.
Necessary action may kindly be taken for early resumption of 269 acres of mined out land of IREL which will be leased out to GPL for development of Gopalpur port, D N Padhi, joint secretary (commerce & transport) wrote to Ganjam collector.
Officials of GPL could not be reached for comments.
The port started its commercial operations last month when 7,500 tonnes of ilmenite, the sand mineral product of Odisha Sands Complex (OSCOM), a unit of the Indian Rare Earths Limited (IREL), was shipped through a small vessel to South Korea.
The clearance for the operation of the port from the State Pollution Control Board (SPCB) and customs department was accorded on May 14.
The port operation was stopped since 2010 for its upgradation to an all weather port. Before 2010, the port, located at Arjeepalli, about 30 km from here, was functioning as a seasonal port.
Initially, GPL was floated as a consortium of three partners- Odisha Stevedores Ltd (OSL), Delhi-based Sara International Ltd (SIL) and Hong Kong-based Noble Group.
But Noble Group exiting the consortium in May 2010 had raised questions on the future of the port. Jindal Steel & Power Ltd (JSPL) has recently evinced interest in acquiring 49 per cent stake in the consortium.
The existing promoters of GPL were yet to take a call on allowing JSPL to pick up stake in the special purpose vehicle (SPV).
The ports total capacity was envisaged at 54 million tonne per annum (mtpa) and it was to be developed at a cost of Rs 3,500 crore.
