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Offers brighten prospects for Gopalpur port project

Santanu Sanyal

BHUBANESWAR, Nov. 22

WITH several private firms showing interest, the prospect of Gopalpur being developed into a major all-weather all-commodities port has brightened again.

Adani Group, which has successfully implemented a port project in Mundra in Gujarat, proposes to invest Rs 700 crore to create facilities for handling about seven million tonnes (mt) of cargo, according to Orissa's Industry Minister, Mr K.V. Singh Deo. Similar proposals had also been submitted by Sea King, Gujarat and ABC Company Ltd, Mumbai, Mr Singh Deo told Business Line.

He sounded bullish about the LNG project at Gopalpur. An LNG jetty at a cost of about $150 million would be built by the AL Manhal Group of the UAE for handling 5-7 mt of LNG annually. LNG would be imported from Australia in a specially built LNG vessels of not less than 65,000 dwt capacity each for the gas- based power project and petro-chemical complex. In the power project, the UAE Group would hold 51 per cent equity, the Minister said.

Meanwhile, the Chief Minister has constituted a Cabinet sub-committee under his chairmanship to consider the proposals of private parties to develop the port project, according to Orissa's Commerce & Industry Secretary, Mr N.C. Vasudevan.

The selection of the private sector partner would be made shortly. Mr Vasudevan said that whichever party was selected would be required to implement the project on BOOST (build, own, operate, share and transfer) basis.

The Orissa Government is also bullish about the Dhamra port project given over to International Seaports Private Ltd (ISPL) for implementation.

``We have already signed a concessional agreement with ISPL and hope that the project will be implemented within two years. We conceded that a case in Orissa High Court on the environmental aspect of the project was yet to be disposed ; but we hope that it would not be a major problem'', he said.

The project would be given over to ISPL initially on a 30-year lease to be renewable for 10 years, to be followed by another 10 years. There would be a sharing of the gross revenue on year-to-year basis.