PPA Chairman P.L. Haranadh shares contribution of Paradip Port to country’s economic development
By Pravakara Sahoo
Paradip, May 31: Commemorating the occasion of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’snine years in office, Shri P.L. Haranadh, Chairman of Paradip Port Authority, on Wednesday highlighted the growth saga of Indian major ports, with special focus on Paradip Port, while interacting with the local media persons here.
In March 2015, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had announced the Sagarmala Programme with a view to achieve the broad objective of promoting port led economic development under four pillars namely Port Modernisation, Port Connectivity, Port-led Industrialisation and Coastal Community Development.
Under “Sagarmala” Programme, Paradip Port has implemented several capacity expansion projects on BOT basis with a total investment of Rs. 3260 crores during the last 9 years viz. (1) Clean Cargo & Container Berth of 5 MMTPA capacity at a cost of Rs.430 crores, (2) Development of new Iron Ore Terminal of 10 MMTPA at Rs.740 crores, (3) Mechanization of 3 existing berths (EQ) of 30 MMTPA at Rs. 1440 crores to handle coal exports, (4) Development of a New Coal Import Berth of 10 MMTPA at Rs.650 crores.
The 82-km long Haridaspur-Paradip Railway line connecting Paradip Port to the rich Iron Ore mining hinterland in the Keonjhar areas has been completed at a cost of Rs. 3200 crores. This Rail line has reduced the distance from Paradip to the Kalinganagar cluster of Steel Plants and Iron Ore mines.
By leveraging port-led industrialization, Paradip Port has successfully attracted investments worth Rs 8,754 crore for the development of 769 acres of portland. This strategic initiative will facilitate the establishment of industrial facilities with a combined capacity of 50.6 million metric tons per annum (mtpa) and generate employment opportunities for over 3,700 individuals.
Maritime India Vision 2023, unveiled by Hon’ble Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi Ji has laid down clear cut initiatives for making Major Ports as best in class infrastructure centres. Paradip Port has planned 99 initiatives under the MIV 2030, at an investment of Rs.16,743 crores, out of which around 42 initiatives are completed.
The Major Port Authority Act 2021 has provided requisite dynamism and flexibility to improve competitiveness and efficiency under the current competitive environment.
PM Gati Shakti National Master Plan launched by Hon’ble PM envisages timely completion of various Port connectivity and capacity augmentation projects, so that an ecosystem of better logistics is provided for EXIM traffic.
The Port capacity has been augmented by 55 Million Metric Tonnes per annum to a present capacity of 289.5 MMTPA. The overall Output per Ship Berthday (OSBD) has improved from 18179 Metric Tonnes to 31050 Metric Tonnes. The Turn-Round-Time (TRT) has improved from 111 hours to 47.9 hours. Similarly, there has been reduction in Handling Cost from Rs. 62.39 per Tonne to Rs. 57.60 per Tonne resulting in improvement of Operating Ratio from 60.1% to 38%.
Paradip Port is emerging as a Mega Major Port on the east coast of India to handle the EXIM Traffic of its hinterland with high standards of productivity and low logistic costs.
