Adani’s Kalinga port project in Orissa hangs fire

Adani group’s ambitious plan to replicate its west coast success story on the eastern coast is set to take longer than envisaged as its Kalinga Port project in Orissa is yet to get the necessary clearances from the state government.

“The state government is embroiled in two main issues at the moment — the Posco land acquisition and the extension of the Paradip Port, which is embroiled in court cases,” a senior official of Mundra Port and SEZ Ltd said, requesting anonymity.

The initial plan for the multi-purpose Kalinga port was shared as early as May 2010. The proposed investment outlay then was around Rs10,000 crore. The plan was to have around 16-18 berths of a total capacity of 100 million tonne in a phased manner, with around 12 berths to be operational by 2015-16.

The company now plans to go ahead with the first phase of the project, which will comprise around three berths of a total capacity of 20 million tonne capacity.

However, the official refused to share a timeline for the same as the approvals are yet to be granted.

Meanwhile, the company continues to look for greenfield opportunities in all the three main eastern coast states — Tamil Nadu, Orissa and Andhra Pradesh.

Orissa is a hub state for steel plants in the country and the state’s major port, run by Paradip Port Trust, witnesses major movement of bulk cargo — raw materials and finished products.