The Railway Ministry’s proposal to invest Rs 3,800 crore for port connectivity projects will be helpful for the proposed container terminal project at Diamond Harbour and Sagar port in West Bengal, according to R.P.S Kahlon, Chairman of Kolkata Port Trust (KoPT).
“We welcome it as it will help cargo evacuation and linkages in the proposed Diamond Harbour Container Terminal and Sagar port,” he told Business Line .
In his Budget speech, Railway Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal said: “The recently revamped participative policy enabling partnership with ports, large mines, industry and investors addresses the specific concerns of private investors.
Public-private tie-ups
An investment of up to Rs 9,000 crore is expected under these projects, including Rs 3,800-crore for port connectivity projects...” To be developed through the public private partnership route, the proposed Rs 1,500-crore container terminal is one of the major infrastructure development projects executed by KoPT. The proposed terminal is slated to handle 1.2 million TEUs annually.
The container terminal, to come up close to the river mouth at Diamond Harbour in South 24 Parganas district, is expected to be commissioned by 2015-16.
Capacity addition
Infrastructure companies such as International Container Terminal Services Inc, APM Terminals Asia-Pacific Region, D.P. World India Pvt Ltd, Concast Infratech Ltd with consortium partner Hyundai Engineering and Construction Co Ltd, SREI Infrastructure Finance Ltd with Spain-based consortium partner OHL Construction and IL&FS Maritime Infrastructure Company Ltd have shown interest in the project.
Meanwhile, the port authorities have also been working on a Rs 3,000-crore port project at Sagar Island with the aim of adding nearly 60 million tonnes capacity.
RITES - the engineering consultancy arm of Indian Railways - has conducted a feasibility study for the proposed Sagar port.