Paradip Port

Syllabus subtopic: Infrastructure: Energy, Ports, Roads, Airports, Railways etc.

Prelims and Mains focus: about the details of the project and its significance; Ports of India, About National Infrastructure Pipeline (NIP)

News: An inter-ministerial panel has approved a Ministry of Shipping proposal for deepening and optimisation of inner harbour facilities of the Paradip Port Trust.

Details of the project

• A panel chaired by the Department of Economic Affairs Secretary, after consultations with the Department of Expenditure, Ministry of Shipping and NITI Aayog, recently gave in-principle approval to this project. The project will be taken up on a common user basis after clearing financial and technical bids.

• The total project cost is estimated at Rs 3,025 crore and the project will be executed in the public-private-partnership (PPP) mode.

• Prospective bidders will need to have a minimum net worth of 50 per cent of the project cost to qualify for bidding.

• The Paradip Port Trust will invite bids from private players for the execution of the project, which will enable the construction of Western dock captive berths to handle Capesize vessels.
• The project will also facilitate the import of coking coal for the steel sector and other industries.

About the Paradip Port

• Located in Odisha, the deepwater Paradip Port handles various cargo like crude oil, iron ore, thermal coal, coking coal, limestone, manganese and fertilisers among others.

• The port handled total traffic of 109.27 million metric tonnes (MMT) in 2018-19, as against 102.01 MMT in 2017-18.

• The proposed deepening and optimisation of the inner harbour facilities will add an annual handling capacity of another 25 MMT to the port’s overall capacity. Post completion of the inner harbour facilities, Paradip Port Trust plans to take up construction of the outer harbour project at an estimated cost of Rs 10,000 crore.

Initiatives are taken by the govt. in Infrastructure sector

• As part of the National Infrastructure Pipeline prepared by the Finance Ministry for the next five years, the Centre is working to approve all projects where financing can be tied up quickly and which are ready to be executed.

• Apart from infrastructure projects in the PPP mode, the Finance Ministry is also working on clearing infra projects that will be implemented by the Central government as well as states.

• The Finance Ministry, last month, unveiled Rs 102 lakh crore of infrastructure projects that will be implemented during the fiscal year 2020 and 2025, with the Centre contributing nearly 39 per cent towards these projects, states accounting for another 39 per cent and the private sector 22 per cent.

• Of the total project capital expenditure during fiscals 2020 to 2025, sectors such as energy (24 per cent), urban (16 per cent), railways (13 per cent) and roads (19 per cent) are estimated to account for over 70 per cent of the projected infrastructure investments in India.

• The Port sector is estimated to attract investments of Rs 1.01 lakh crore during this period, including an estimated investment of Rs 16,128 crore in the next fiscal year, as per the Finance Ministry.

About National Infrastructure Pipeline (NIP)

It is estimated that India would need to spend $4.5 trillion on infrastructure by 2030 to sustain its growth rate. The endeavour of the National Infrastructure Pipeline (NIP), is to make this happen in an efficient manner.

Funding: The central government and state governments would have an equal share of 39% each in the NIP. The private sector, on the other hand, would have a 22% share which the government expects to increase to 30% by 2025.

• National Infrastructure Pipeline will ensure that infrastructure projects are adequately prepared and launched.
• Each Ministry/ Department would be responsible for the monitoring of projects so as to ensure their timely and within-cost implementation.
• It will help in stepping-up annual infrastructure investment to achieve the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of $5 trillion by 2024-25.

Need for infrastructure funding:

• Availability of quality infrastructure is a pre-requisite to achieve broad-based and inclusive growth on a sustainable basis.
• Investment in infrastructure is also necessary for sustaining the high growth rate of India.

Seaports in India