India: There is an unprecedented growth of traffic at Paradip Port in recent years. The traffic has doubled in the last six years from 23.9 million tonnes from 2002 to 2003 to 46.41 million tonnes from 2008 to 2009.
For 2009 to 2010, it is forecast that the port will handle 57 million tonnes of traffic with a growth rate of 23 percent over the corresponding period of the previous year.
Despite global meltdown and slow export/import business in the international market, Paradip Port has achieved highest growth rate amongst all the Indian major ports during this fiscal year. The volume of traffic handled at the end of this fiscal will allow Paradip Port to rise to the fifth position from its eighth position earlier among the twelve major ports of the country.
To achieve the above traffic target, port has initiated the following capacity expansion projects.
Recently completed projects
1. A single point mooring in association with IOC was commissioned on December 28, 2008, at Paradip for handling of VLCCs. The crude oil is supplied to Haldia and Barunei Refineries through a pipeline.
2. A 75-metre dry dock was constructed and commissioned at Paradip in January 2008 to facilitate repair of all port craft and vessels
3. The construction of a Ro-Ro jetty
4. A 160-metre berth for IOCL vessels
5. A 108-metre berth for coast guard vessels
6. CCTV surveillance to strengthen the port's security system
7. An Electronic Data Interchange system. Web based messages are also being exchanged with users through the PCS central server.
On-going projects
1. Channel deepening: Paradip Port commenced the work in June 2008. After deepening the port will be able to handle Capesize vessels. The completed channel will be increased from 13 metres to 17 metres at the entrance channel and from 15 metres to 18.7 metres at the approach channel. The likely date of completion of the project is June 2010.
2. Construction of new berths
(a) Development of a new deep draught iron ore berth. The concession agreement for this project was signed last July. The construction work is likely to commence next month
(b) Development of a new deep draught coal berth. The concession agreement for this project was signed in November 2009 with construction to commence next month
3. Mechanisation and modernisation of the berths
Future projects
1. Construction of one multipurpose berth to handle containers and other clean cargoes. This facility will add about 5 MTPA to the present capacity of the port. The estimated date of completion is March 2012.
2. A proposal has been processed to construct an oil berth, also to be completed in March 2012.
