Paradip to set up dedicated container terminal
17 Mar 2016
After a clean cargo berth, Paradip Port would be having a dedicated container terminal as well for which it has entered a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Container Corporation of India (CONCOR), a source in the port told ICMW.
The new container terminal will be in addition to the multi-purpose clean cargo berth being set up by the J M Baxi group under an agreement with Paradip Port signed in 2015. The piling work for the berth has already been started.
According to the port source, a team of experts from CONCOR has already visited the site and held a detailed meeting with ports top management, the source said.
Container traffic via Paradip Port is negligible at present, but in order to have an all-round development, this traffic too is needed, the source pointed out.
Towards setting up the container terminal, Paradip Port would provide 400-500 acres of land. CONCOR would invest Rs 15 crore in the first phase for the project and the rest of the money would be arranged through public-private-partnership (PPP), the source said.
The work on the project is likely to start within the next four to five months and would take about 10 years to be fully functional, the source said, adding, the new terminal would add up to 5 million tons per annum of cargo handling capacity.
The official said: “The under-construction clean cargo berth would be handling non-coal, non-oil dry bulk cargo. On the other hand, the proposed dedicated container terminal would be for containers only. So there will be no clash of interest between the two projects and in the long run both will have financial viability.”