BS reported that a captive deep sea port proposed at Bichitrapur in Balasore district by Jindal Infrastructure Limited has run into rough weather with concerns being expressed over its likely impact on the Subarnarekha river mouth.

The fact that another commercial port is proposed by Creative Port Development Limited at Kirtania, located within 10 kilometers radius of Bichitrapur, has also opened up debate about the feasibility of building two ports in close proximity.

A senior official of commerce & transport department said that "The water resources department has stressed on a detailed study on the impact of developing two ports on the Subarnarekha river mouth. It has called for study by an expert organization."

The department had also sought the views of forest and environment department on building the proposed port at Bichitrapur. While the forest and environment department has categorically stated that the port site is not a mass nesting area for Olive Ridley turtles, it has said sporadic movements of turtles have been noticed.

The Bichitrapur port had not made any headway after JSW Infrastructure announced to set up an INR 2,238 crore captive deep sea port at that location, targeting cargo throughput of 10 million tonne per annum in the first phase.

The company was to invest INR 550 crore in the first phase which was scheduled for commissioning by 2013. The port's cargo handling was projected to reach 20 million tonne per annum in the second phase set to be operational by 2013 and 45 million tonne per annum by 2020.

JSW Infrastructure was to invest INR 750 crore and INR 938 crore in the second phase and third phase respectively. The port was to handle cargo like coking coal, thermal coal, met coke, dolomite limestone, iron ore, finished steel products, bauxite, gypsum and clinker.

Out of the total investment of INR 2,238 crore, JSW was to invest INR 230 crore on land development, INR 243 crore on berths, INR 120 crore on breakwaters and embankments, INR 900 crore on dredging and INR 366 crore on handling equipment.

On the other hand, Creative Port Development Limited had inked a MoU with the state government on December 18th 2006 for setting up a port at Kirtania with an initial capacity of 10 million tonnes per annum, which was to be scaled up to 40 million tonne per annum in 10 years.

The port developer had also entered into a concession agreement with the state government on January 11th 2008. As per this agreement, the port developer would share revenue with the state government at the rate of five per cent from first to fifth year, 8% from sixth to 10th year, 10% from 11th to 15th year and 12% for the remaining 15 years.

(Sourced from www.business-standard.com)