The Business Bytes
TBB BUREAU
PARADIP, MAY 31, 2023
Commemorating the occasion of the Modi Government’s nine years in office, Paradip Port Authority (PPA) Chairman PL Haranadh on Wednesday highlighted the growth saga of Indian Major Ports and especially that of Paradip Port while interacting with the local media.
Under the “Sagarmala” Programme announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in March 2025, Paradip Port has implemented several capacity expansion projects on BOT basis with a total investment of Rs. 3260 crore in the last nine years, informed the PPA Chairman.
PPA invested Rs 430 crore for Clean Cargo & Container Berth of 5 MMTPA capacity, Rs 740 crore for development of new Iron Ore Terminal of 10 MMTPA, Rs. 1440 crore in mechanization of 3 existing berths (EQ) of 30 MMTPA to handle coal exports, and Rs 650 crore for development of a New Coal Import Berth of 10 MMTPA capacity, Haranadh elaborated.
The 82-km long Haridaspur-Paradip Railway line connecting Paradip Port and the rich Iron Ore mining hinterland in the Keonjhar area has been completed at a cost of Rs. 3200 crore, reducing the distance from Paradip to Kalinganagar cluster of steel plants and Iron Ore mines.
The PPA Chairman further said that 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, he added.
Paradip Port has planned 99 initiatives under the Maritime India Vision 2023, at an investment of Rs.16,743 crore, out of which around 42 initiatives have already been completed, Haranadh said.
The Major Port Authority Act 2021 has provided requisite dynamism and flexibility to improve competitiveness and efficiency under the current competitive environment, he added.
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.
The capacity of the Paradip Port has been augmented by 55 million metric tonnes per annum (MMTPA) to a present capacity of 289.5 MMTPA. The overall Output per Ship Berthday (OSBD) has improved from 18,179 Metric Tonnes to 31,050 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 per cent to 38 per cent, the PPA Chairman said.
