The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) on Wednesday approved a ₹3,004.63-crore project to enhance the facilities at Paradip Port, including the development of a Western dock to accommodate the larger cape size vessels, a government statement said.
The project would be on the build, operate and transfer (BOT) model under the public-private partnership mode. The cost would be ₹2,040 crore and the capital dredging works would cost ₹352.13 crore, it said.
“The proposed project envisages construction of Western Dock Basin with facilities to handle cape size vessels by the selected BOT concessionaire with an ultimate capacity of 25 MTPA (million tonnes per annum) in two phases of 12.50 MTPA each,” the statement said.
The project would cater to imports of coal and limestone and export of granulated slag and finished steel products, given the number of steel plants established in the area, the statement said. The project would help in decongesting the port, reducing sea freight, thereby making coal imports cheaper and creating jobs, it said.
