The development of minor ports at Chudamani and Inchudi in Balasore district has been held up due to want of clearance from the Ministry of defence.
"The state government has identified Bichitrapur, Subarnarekha river mouth, Bahabalpur, Chandipur and Inchudi in Balasore district as potential locations for development of port projects. Of these locations, the proposal to develop ports at Chudamani and Inchudi has been held up due to lack of necessary clearance from the Ministry of defence,” minister for commerce & transport Sanjeev Sahoo said in response to a query in the state assembly.
The minister said JSW Infrastructure Ltd has presented a proposal for developing a captive port at Bichitrapur which is under the consideration of the state government.
For Bahabalpur, Sahoo said, five companies were interested to build ports including IL&FS Infrastructure Ltd, Dharti Dredging Ltd, GMR Infrastructure Ltd, NSL Orissa Power & Infratech Ltd and Mundra Port & SEZ Ltd.
The state government had also inked a concession agreement with Creative Port Development Ltd for the Subarnarekha port and a special purpose vehicle (SPV) called Subarnarekha Port Pvt Ltd has been formed for the purpose, he said.
On concerns raised over the impact of a port project at Barunei Muhan on wildlife of the area, the minister said the state government had submitted a revised proposal to the Union ministry of environment & forests (MoEF).
The minister said, five developers including London-based ArcelorMittal, Jamshedpur-based Adhunik Metaliks, Chennai-based SPI Ports Ltd, Chennai-based Sical Logistics and Mumbai-based Mundra Port & Special Economic Zone have evinced interest in setting up a port at Barunei Muhan.
In response to a separate query on the reason for delay in start of work on the Gopalpur project despite the environment clearance from MoEF, the minister informed that work on the port would be started by the promoters within two years of handing over of land.
The Gopalpur port project needed 1,200 acres of land in the second phase.
