Odisha govt takes steps to develop minor ports

Odisha government is taking various steps to develop minor ports in the state. It may be noted that the state government received clearance from the centre for such projects.

Consequently, the state government wants to engage Rail India Technical and Economic Services (Rites), which is the engineering and consultancy arm of Indian Railways, to asses land need of non-major port projects in the state.

The department is in the process of formulating new guidelines for assessment of land requirement of the non-major ports.

It may be noted that the commerce & transport department had ruled out immediate allotment of land for Dhamra portÂ’s second phase expansion. Dhamra port is jointly promoted by Tata Steel and Larsen & Toubro (L&T).

In order to be eligible for land allocation, the port promoters need to adhere to the additional conditions stipulated by the state government.

First- the port has to achieve capacity utilization of 70 per cent of Phase-I in accordance with clause 4.4 of the concession agreement.

Second- it has to obtain environment clearance from Union ministry of environment & forests (MoEF) for the proposed expansion.

Third- DPCL also has to get a no-objection certificate from the National Green Tribunal in the matter of expansion of port beyond the limits of the port. Dhamra port needed 800 acre of land in the second phase purely for port operations.