Paradip Port abandons development of deep-water outer harbour

Indian state-owned port operator Paradip Port Trust has disclosed that it will not push through with its plans to develop a deep-water port with a projected annual capacity of 140 million tonnes.

The country’s shipping minister, Mansukh Mandaviya, recently told Parliament that a deep-water port in Paradip’s outer harbour “was not found viable” after it was discovered that the port cannot be deepened further to allow access for capesize vessels.

Development of the deep-water port was originally proposed in anticipation of increased demand for locally-produced coal. However, Mr Mandaviya had also cited declines in coal cargo volumes during the first 10 months of fiscal year 2020 (i.e. April 2019 to January 2020) as among the reasons for discontinuing the project.

The Rs 8.767 crore (US$1.228 million) project was to have been carried out by the Paradip Port Trust in cooperation with Coal India, Sagarmala Development Corporation, and the government of the state of Odisha, where the port is located.