Contrary to the wishes of the central government, Posco is planning to develop a captive port at Jatadhari near Paradip Port in Orissa for handling its cargo.

The company needs a dedicated port facility for its12 million tpa mega steel plant to be built at an investment Rs.52,000 crore. The environment impact assessment study made also found that the capacity of Paradip Port is already over-stretched and it is not in a condition to handle cargo dedicatedly.

The shipping ministry asked the Orissa government to discourage the company from developing a separate port at Jatadhari, 12 km from Paradip, saying it will cause enormous soil erosion in Paradip.

The company had detailed discussions with senior Orissa government officials and had impressed upon them the need for a separate port and after prolonged parleys the government relented and allowed it to build a separate port at Jatadhari.

Also see:

SPV for rail, road connectivity to Paradip Port (27-Dec-05)