The Paradip port. Telegraph picture

Paradip, Oct. 10: A Rs 506-crore iron ore terminal project, an ambitious expansion project of Paradip Port Trust (PPT), remains stalled because of absence of clearance from the ministry of forest and environment (MoEF).

The project could lead to a major increase of the cargo handling capacity of the port. Port authorities had felt the need for a deep draught iron ore berth to meet expeditious handling of ores because of the recent iron ore export boom.

Thereafter, an accord was signed between the PPT and a private bidder on July 1, 2009. However, the project has failed to move forward as the MoEF clearance has not yet been accorded.

PPT officials had invited tender for the project in a hurry without being armed with the MoEF clearance. The clearance is mandatory for the project to take off, forest officials said.

“First, PPT authorities should have sought the MoEF go-ahead before inviting global tenders. But they did not do so. Hence, the port trust will have to wait for the clearance,” said Manoj Kumar Mahapatra, divisional forest officer, Rajnagar Mangrove (wildlife) forest division.

“The matter has been taken up with appropriate authorities. This project is of immense importance for the growth of the port. We are hopeful that MoEF will accord the seal of approval for the project without further delay,” said PPT deputy chairman S. Ananta Chandra Bose.

“Since this is an important port project, we are treating the case expeditiously. The PPT has already given us an undertaking that compensatory forestation will be carried out. The clearance proposal has been sent to the Union ministry. We expect a positive reply from MoEF very shortly,” said DFO Mohapatra.

The site for the terminal project is under the PPT’s jurisdiction. However, the construction site falls under the coastal regulation zone (CRZ) territory and the MoEF clearance is a must for such projects.

This is the first project under the public private partnership (PPP) mode to be implemented in country’s port sector. As part of the PPP scheme of the central government, the PPT had floated global tenders for construction of the deep draught iron ore berth on build-operate-transfer (BOT) basis, PPT officials said.

The PPT went ahead with signing agreement for the project and completed the global tender bidding process. However, the forest department was neither informed, nor was its mandatory clearance sought, forest sources said.

The project was expected to enhance the cargo-handling capacity of the PPT. With export-import turnover shooting up, enormous load is being exerted on 14 operational berths.