Astaranga port is a deep-water, all-weather port proposed to be constructed at

Astaranga Astaranga is a fishing and agricultural village and a community development block in Puri district in the Indian state of Odisha. It was a part of 'Lavana Satyagraha' (Salt March), a nonviolent civil disobedience in colonial India led by Mahatma ...

Puri district Puri district is a coastal district of the Odisha state of India. It has one sub-division, 11 tahasils and 11 blocks and comprises 1722 revenue villages. Puri is the only municipality of the district. Konark, Pipili and Nimapara are the thre ...

in the Indian state of

Odisha Odisha (English: , ), formerly Orissa ( the official name until 2011), is an Indian state located in Eastern India. It is the 8th largest state by area, and the 11th largest by population. The state has the third largest population of ...

Background

For over 40 years there was only one major port in Odisha, at Paradip with less major

Gopalpur Port Gopalpur port is a deep sea port of Gopalpur in Ganjam District, Odisha, India. The port has been developed on the banks of the Bay of Bengal. The seaport will increase the sea trade of Odisha, as well as industry and employment. The Odisha gove ...

and

Dhamra Port The Dhamra Port is a port in Bhadrak district, Odisha, India, on the shore of the Bay of Bengal about seven kilometres from the old port of Dhamra. The agreement to develop the port was signed in April 1998. The Dhamra Port Company Limited (DP ...

. That picture has changed dramatically in the past few years. Based on a study by

IIT Madras Indian Institute of Technology Madras (IIT Madras) is a public technical university located in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India. As one of the Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs), it is recognized as an Institute of National Importance and has be ...

, the Government of Odisha had identified 13 locations along the state's 480 kilometres (300 mi) coast line as suitable for setting up of ports. Thereafter, in order to facilitate the setting up of new ports with participation of private parties the state government had formulated in 2004 a separate port policy. Apart from the Dhamra port, which is set to be operational by mid-2010, progress has been achieved in setting up two other ports –

Subarnarekha Port Subarnarekha port formerly known as Kirtania port is a deep-water, all-weather port proposed to be constructed at the mouth of Subarnarekha River in Balasore district in the Indian States and territories of India, state of Odisha. The foundation ...

Balasore Balasore or Baleswara is a city in the state of Odisha, about north of the state capital Bhubaneswar and from Kolkata, in eastern India. It is the largest town of northern Odisha and the administrative headquarters of Balasore district. It i ...

Astaranga port in

Puri Puri () is a coastal city and a Nagar Palika, municipality in the state of Odisha in eastern India. It is the district headquarters of Puri district and is situated on the Bay of Bengal, south of the state capital of Bhubaneswar. It is als ...

. After implementation of these projects, Odisha is expected to become the vital exit point for not only the state, but other land-locked states like Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand and Madhya Pradesh.

Port Development

Hyderabad-based Navayuga Engineering Co. will construct the Rs. 6 billion port at Astaranga. The company will implement the port project near the Devi River in three phases on a build- own-operate-share-transfer basis, with an investment of Rs. 1.50 billion in the first phase. The second and third phase of the project will comprise Rs. 2 billion and Rs. 2.50 billion, respectively. Astaranga is one of the four new ports being set up on the Odisha coast. Nineteen sites for ports have been identified on the Odisha coast. Navayug Engineering Company Limited submitted techno-feasibility report with the State government for setting up port at Astaranga in Puri district. It approached

East Coast Railway The East Coast Railway (abbreviated ECoR) is one of the 19 railway zones of Indian Railways. It came into existence on 1 April 2003. The headquarters of the zone are at Bhubaneswar, Odisha History Consequent upon the parliament's approval, Ea ...

to extend the project a rail link. The Odisha government has relaxed a vital clause in its MoU with the

Navayuga Engineering Company Limited Navayuga Engineering Company Limited (NEC Limited), the flagship entity of the Navayuga Group, started its operations in 1999 as a private limited company. Sectors * Special foundations * Industrial structures * Marine structures * Infrastru ...

(NECL) enabling the latter to sign a concession agreement with it for developing an all weather port at Astaranga.

References

Proposed ports in India Ports and harbours of Odisha Transport in Puri {{India-transport-stub