Odisha Has Strategic Potential For Growing To Coastal Shipping Hub: Chief Secy

Bhubaneswar: A tow day Summit on Prime Minister Gati-Shakti Multimodal Maritime was inaugurated in Bhubaneswar today under the joint aegis of Paradeep Port Authority, State and Central Government.

Addressing the Summit as Chief Guest, Chief Secretary Suresh Chandra Mahapatra said, “Odisha is a maritime State, and has a strategic location for coastal shipping.  Our coastal line is quite suitable for the development of deep ports. The Eastern part of India including Odisha is growing at a fast rate.  Odisha is supplying thermal coal, iron ore and manganese to a large number of States in India. The growth rate will be faster in coming years”.

Mahapatra added, “The PM Gati-Shakti is a Pan Indian platform that would address to the critical issues of reducing the logistic cost of mineral transport substantially, and would accelerate the growth of coastal shipping. It is a comprehensive and converged platform of all the related departments in both State and Central Government along with other major stakeholders”.

With uploading of information by all concerned, the planning and decision-making for the sector would be more perfect and faster. It would also bring the real ease of doing business for the investors.   Sri Mahapatra opined, Odisha would soon become one of the biggest hubs in coastal shipping of the minerals and finished products. Sri Mahapatra assured that State Government would extend all help for implementation of the recommendations of this two-day Summit.

Joining the inaugural session as Guest of honour, Divisional Railway Manager Sri Rinkesh Roy said, “East cost railway is No-1 frieght loading zone in the entire Railways. Paradeep is the 2nd largest port in terms of the volume handled through rail link network. The region has huge mining and industrial belt”. He said that the East Coast Railway was on its path for augmentation of its rail network in Odisha from mining and industrial points to the port.

Addressing the Summit, Joint Secretary Sagarmala Projects of Govt of India Bhusan Kumar gave a blueprint of the converged mechanism put in place for the successful implementation of GatiShakti projects. He said that the Ministry of Ports, Shipping & Waterways prioritized the improvement of connectivity to more than 50 plus non-major operative Ports through PMGatiShakti. In this comprehensive port connectivity plan, more than 107 connectivity gaps were identified for abridging port connectivity.

Jayant Singh, Vice Chairman, IWAI said “Inland waterways is the low-hanging fruit in seamless multimodal transportation.  Odisha with its long stretches of water mass across different regions posess’ immense potential for the development of inland waterways.

Chairman Paradeep Port Trust Shri P.L. Haranadh said, that Paradip Port in its 56 years of cargo handling service would attain a record 125 MMT annual traffic in FY 2022-23. He added, “During the Amrit Kal, Paradip will be the Port of the Millennium by having a capacity of more than 500 MMT by 2047”.  PM Gati-Shakti would be the prime mover of this transformation. Deputy Chairman Paradeep Port Trust Sri A.K. Bose presented the past, present and future prospects of Paradeep Port.

The inaugural session was followed by two technical sessions namely Gati-Shakti platform- Creating synergy among departments; and, Potential opportunities in logistic eco-system for sustainable industrial development.. The veteran subject experts from Freight Corridor Corporation of India, Minstry of Commerce and Transport Government of India, Commissionerate of Customs, Steel Authority of India, Tata Steels, Mahanadi Coal Field, JM Baxi, IFFCO, Samsara Shipping led the deliberations in these two sessions.