Bihar keen to set up port in Odisha coast

BHUBANESWAR: With Bihar keen to develop a port facility in the Odisha coast, the State government is reported to have given green signal to the proposal. A team of senior officers of Bihar government led by Additional Chief Secretary Brijesh Mehrotra discussed the issue at a high level meeting here chaired by Chief Secretary Suresh Mohaptra here on Tuesday.

“We express our gratitude to Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik to have accepted the proposal of our Chief Minister Nitish Kumar for setting up a port facility in Odisha,” Mehrotra said after the meeting. “I am impressed with the kind of infrastructure created by the Odisha government in the industrial estates and the facilitating support provided by the State to the investors,” he added.

While assuring all possible help from the State, the Chief Secretary said a port facility needs to be managed professionally on a commercial model for making it sustainable. Development Commissioner Pradeep Jena advised the Bihar team to assess their requirement so that the port facility could be planned accordingly. Principal Secretary Commerce and Transport Madhusudan Padhi said 14 locations along Odisha coast have been identified for development of ports through a detailed study.

Special Secretary Manoj Mishra made a visual presentation of the identified locations and outlined the comparat ive advantage s and challenges associated with the locations. Principal Secretary, Industries, Hemant Sharma outlined different commercial models for successful running of a port in Odisha coast.

The team was told that some location north of Paradip may be more useful for Bihar to develop the port facility. A technical team of Bihar would visit Odisha to see all the identified locations and assess the feasibility of developing the port facility. Mehrotra also visited employment-intensive apparel factories in the Mancheswar industrial estate.