The Hindu Business Line : Funds tied up for Dhamra port project

Port will be the deepest all-weather port of its kind in the country with a draught of 18.5 metres, which can accommodate super cape-size vessels up to 180,000 DWT.

Advertisement

Bhubaneswar March 1 Dhamra Port Company Ltd (DPCL), a 50:50 joint venture company of Larsen & Toubro Ltd and Tata Steel, has achieved financial closure for development of an all-weather deep port at Dhamra on the Orissa coast.

According to an official release, the company signed the loan agreement with a consortium of lenders led by the Industrial Development Bank of India at Chennai on Tuesday. The consortium has agreed to part-finance the project cost of Rs 2,460 crore. The company is working with BNP Paribas for ECA funding.

Sheltered between the main land and Kanika Island, Dhamra Port will be the deepest all-weather port of its kind in the country with a draught of 18.5 metres, which can accommodate super cape-size vessels up to 180,000 DWT.

Advantages

The cargo of mineral and mineral-based industries being highly freight-sensitive, a deep draught port will be of great advantage as such cargo can move in larger vessels, leading to lower incidence of sea freight on the landed cost. The highly mechanised and advance material handling facilities planned at the port will offer users loading and discharge rates comparable to the best in the world.

The port project includes 62-km rail connectivity to the main Howrah-Chennai line at Bhadrak.

According to the company, the port will eventually have 13 berths to handle over 83 million tonnes of cargo per annum. Of these, the first two berths with a handling capacity of up to 25 million tonnes of bulk cargo per annum will come up in the first phase. When fully developed, the port will handle all types of cargo such as dry bulk, break bulk, liquid and container cargo.

Apart from Tata Steel, who is a co-promoter of the port, a number of other steel plants, mines and industries in Orissa, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh and West Bengal will use the port. L&T's Engineering Construction & Contracts Division will be constructing the port while International Dredging Seaport Company Ltd, a joint venture of L&T and Dredging International of Belgium, will carry out the dredging work.

Working together

Subsequent to the signing of the financing documents, Mr S.K. Mohapatra, CEO of DPCL, said the port wouldbe a major player in Tata Steel's global plans and aspirations. Mr H.M Nerurkar, Director, DPCL and Vice-President of Tata Steel's Kalinga Nagar steel plant project, said the port project signified the coming together of the largest steel industry in the private sector and the largest engineering and construction major.

Signing on behalf of L&T, Mr K.V Rangaswami, Director, DPCL and Member, Board, L&T, said L&T's total construction capabilities encompassing various facets of engineering and construction, including supply of critical material handling equipment, wouldensure timely completion of this project.