A proposal to develop a part of Paradip Port, involving an investment of ₹3,005 crore to enable handling of large vessels was approved by the Cabinet Committee of Economic Affairs on Wednesday.

Minister for Port, Shipping and Waterways Mansukh Lal Mandaviya, told media persons after the CCEA meeting, that on commissioning of the project, it shall cater to the requirement of coal and limestone imports besides exports of granulated slag and finished steel products considering the large number of steel plants in the hinterland of Paradip Port.

In another move, the Minister said ports in India have started making money by selling dredged sand after cleaning the sand from salty-water by using indigenous technology.

Meanwhile, the proposed project at Paradip Port 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 12.5 MTPA each.

The estimated cost of the project is ₹3,004.63 crore. The project cost includes development of the new Western Dock on build-operate-transfer (BOT) basis and capital dredging by the selected concessionaire at a cost of ₹2,040 crore and ₹352.13 crore respectively, said a release.

Also, Paradip Port will invest ₹612.5 crore towards providing common supporting project infrastructure like breakwater extension and other ancillary works to facilitate handling of cape size vessels.

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