More land for Dhamara Port expansion ruled out

The Odisha Government has ruled out immediate allotment of land for the Dhamara Port Company Limited’s second phase of expansion in the wake of speculation of stake sale by L & T, one of the promoters of DPCL. Dhamara Port Company is an equal joint venture between the engineering giant and Tata Steel.

“Allotment of additional land to DPCL for the second phase development at this stage does not appear tenable. Further claim of additional land by DPCL shall be considered by the State Government on the basis of a norm (thumb rule) being formulated”, Mr. G. Mathi Vathanan, Secretary (Commerce & Transport) – Odisha, stated in a letter to Mr. Santosh K Mohapatra, Chief Executive Officer of DPCL.

First, the port has to achieve capacity utilization of 70% of Phase-I in accordance with Clause 4.4 of the concession agreement. Second, it has to obtain environment clearance from Union Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) for the proposed expansion. Third, DPCL also has to get a no-objection certificate from the National Green Tribunal in the matter of expansion of port beyond the limits of the port.

DPCL’s Chief Executive Officer (CEO) said: “We need 800 acres of land in the second phase purely for port operations. DPCL has already applied for environment clearance.”

According to the concession agreement signed by the State Government with developers of non-major ports, the original promoters have to retain at least 51% stake till the port begins operations. In case of DPCL, the combined equity of the promoters stood at 100% when the port commenced operations in May 2011.

The port is capable of handling Capesize vessels up to 180,000 dead weight tonnage (dwt). The Dhamara Port master plan provides for 13 berths capable of handling more than 100 million tonnes of dry bulk, break bulk and containerized cargo.

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