India pours $210m into Paradip Port's infrastructure, mechanisation overhaul

It includes an 18.5-metre deep draft.

India has inaugurated seven infrastructure projects worth US$44.7m (₹427.80 crore) at Paradip Port Authority (PPA) in Odisha, alongside concession agreements for three mechanisation projects worth US$165.1m (₹1,580.36 crore).

The largest single project is capital dredging to achieve an 18.5-metre deep draft, costing US$36.8m (₹352 crore), which will let Paradip handle fully laden Capesize vessels in its inner harbour.

The Atharbanki Second New Bridge, a 500-metre, three-lane structure over Atharbanki Creek, cost US$2.6m (₹24.89 crore) and is meant to ease congestion on a route used by nearly 3,000 trucks daily.

Other projects include a Sports Hostel at US$220,000 (₹2.10 crore), an administrative office building façade upgrade led by NBCC (India) Ltd. at US$1.27m (₹12.18 crore), and a piped natural gas (PNG) rollout to residential quarters at US$2.09m (₹20 crore) in partnership with Bharat Petroleum Corp. Ltd.

The PNG project's first phase covers 546 residential units in Madhuban and is projected to cut household gas costs by up to 40%, making Paradip the first major Indian port to offer PNG to its residential township.

Moreover, an Advanced Vessel Traffic Management and Information System, developed with IIT Madras' National Technology Centre for Ports, Waterways and Coasts, cost US$1.62m (₹15.50 crore).

It integrates solid-state radar, artificial intelligence, AIS, CCTV and oil-spill monitoring to track vessels up to 20 nautical miles out.

On mechanisation, the country signed three BOT/captive concession agreements as part of a plan to hit 100% berth mechanisation by 2030, up from 80% currently.

Yogayatan Paradip SQB Terminal Pvt. Ltd. will develop a 5 MTPA South Quay project for US$52.1m (₹498.69 crore); Kalinga Bulk Terminal Paradip Pvt. Ltd. will handle an 8 MTPA Multipurpose Berth project for US$65.9m (₹630.67 crore); and AMNS Paradip Logistics Pvt. Ltd. will develop a 10 MTPA captive CQ-III project for US$47.1m (₹451 crore).

(US$1=INR95.71)