BHUBANESWAR: Odisha government has established at least two non-major ports during its 17-years in office and work for two other ports are in progress, Commerce and transport minister Nrusingha Charan Sahu said today. Sahu said this on the occasion of Patnaiks three years in office. Stating that the state government has signed MoUs with five different companies for setting up non-major ports, Sahu said that two ports at Gopalpur in Ganjam district and Dhamra port in Bhadrak district have been operational since 2013 and 2011 respectively.
While one company withdrew from the agreement for setting up of the port at Chudamani, work is in progress for construction of two ports at Subarnarekha in Balasore district and Astarang in Puri district, the minister said adding that the state government has identified 14 potential sites for developing the non-major ports. The two ports at Dhamra and Gopalpur have handled 86.4 metric million tons of cargo and contributed direct revenue share of Rs 168.05 crore to the state exchequer in the last three years, Sahu said. “Cargo handling capacity of these two ports is being enhanced to more than double of the present capacity,” Sahu said adding that Subarnarekha mouth port is being developed with the help of a BOST partner. The government have invited interested parties to set up a riverine port on the Mahanadi river mouth. Simultaneously, the government is pushing the Centre to include projects in the Sagarmala initiative so that the state gets its due share of the developmental works, he said.
Sahu said that though railway is not under the state subject, still the state government have been pushing for unique ways to increase rail connectivity. At the time of the formation of the BJD government in 2000, seven districts like Kendrapara, Nayagarh, Kandhamal, Boudh, Deogarh, Nabarangpur and Malkangiri were without rail connectivity. Also Subarnapur had marginal connectivity at the periphery of the district, Sahu said. He said that the state government have come forward with unique scheme of giving land for free or at concessional rate. It also directly contributed to the construction cost. Thus, new works were sanctioned by the Railways. Khura Road-Bolangir, Haridaspur-Paradip,Angul-Sukinda, Jeypore-Malkangiri, Jeypore-Nabarangpur and Talcher-Bimalagarh lines will provide connectivity to the unconnected districts, Sahu said. “To promote railway works, the state government have also waived 100 per cent of stamp duty and registration fee on all the 18 railway projects, a rare achievement,” Sahu claimed.
