Steel Authority of India (SAIL) proposes to set up a port in Odisha

With expansion of its units in eastern India in pipelines, public sector steel major, SAIL today evinced keen interest in setting up a port in Odisha, official sources said.

A delegation of Steel Authority of India's (SAIL) top executives today met chief secretary T K Mishra and other senior officers here to seek the state government's assistance for the proposed port by the steel giant.

"We have assured the SAIL officials of all help if they are keen for a port project," Chief Secretary T K Mishra told reporters, adding that the proposed port would help the public sector to transport coal for its requirement.

The proposed port having a capacity of handling 20 million tonnes of cargo would be located anywhere in the state's 480 KM coastline, Mishra said.

The state government had asked SAIL to find any of the 13 places already identified by the state's transport and commerce department for setting up a port.

Besides a major port at Paradip, Gopalpur port had also started working while another major port at Dhamra in Bhadrak district was being developed jointly by Tata Steel and L&T on 50:50 share, said an official adding at least three other MoUs were so far signed for setting up port projects in the state.