KOLKATA: On Tuesday, even as top officials of the proposed Paradip Smart Industrial Port City (SIPC) in Odisha held a road show in Kolkata to attract prospective investors in a multi-modal logistics park (MMLP) there, alarm bells were ringing in Haldia. If the Paradip SIPC — the master plan of which is in final stages of approval — succeeds in attracting investors and port users, it could ring the death knell for the Haldia Dock Complex (HDC) under Kolkata Port Trust (KoPT).
The Paradip port is the second largest in the country and the largest in the east, so far as bulk handling is concerned. It is a natural deep-water port and in 2016-17 and it handled a record 88.95 million tonne cargo last fiscal. This was an increase of 12.57 million tonne from 2015-16. In comparison, HDC is a riverine port and suffers from draught constraints. “Between April 2016 and February 2017, HDC handled only 30.397 million tonne. The increase over 2015-16 was a mere 0.33 million tonne. Due to draught constraints, vessels with capacity loads can’t enter the port of Haldia and are forced to unload a part of their cargo at either Paradip or the private port of Dhamra. This is expensive for importers but they have been continuing to patronise Haldia owing to its locational advantage and better connectivity. However, things may change drastically once the SIPC and MMLP comes up in Paradip,” a port official said.
The Paradip port has been selected as a location for an SIPC under the Centre’s Sagarmala project. The SIPC has been envisaged on nearly 1,600 acre. Of this, nearly 600 acre have been earmarked for the MMLP and an industrial park. According to the Boston Consulting Group (BCG), $1.6 billion worth of investments have been initiated to double the capacity of Paradip Port Trust from 127 million tonne per annum (MTPA) to 250+ MTPA.
The MMLP in Paradip will comprise a free trade and warehousing zone reserved for warehousing and processing industry, truck parking area, warehouses, container yard, empty container yard. On Tuesday, in the roadshow organised by the industry body CII, Paradip SIPC team leader Bipin Pannigrahi told nearly 100 top-rung potential investors in Kolkata: “This is a wonderful opportunity for you. If the aim is to truly make Paradip the key of industrialisation in the East, the vision is to provide best-in-class facilities that include smart utilities, security, warehousing and connectivity. That explains why we are here to look for best-in-class investors.” KoPT is trying hard to keep HDC afloat through trans-loading and lighterage operations but with Paradip port developing in the way it is, it remains to be seen whether their efforts will bear fruit.
