Bhubaneswar: The State Commerce & Transport Department on Saturday signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Gopalpur Port Private Limited. As per the MoU, land measuring 119.716 acres was handed over to Gopalpur Port for further development and expansion of the port.
The MoU was signed by Padmalochan Roul, Director, Ports & Inland Waterway Transport, Commerce & Transport Deptt. and Janardan Rao, CEO, Gopalpur Port Private Limited in the presence of Tukuni Sahu, Minister, Commerce & Transport Deptt., Amitav Thakur, Transport Commissioner, Sanjay Kumar Mishra, Special Secretary of the Deptt.
It is worth mentioning that, Gopalpur Port was operated by the Government of Odisha as a seasonal lighterage Port from 1986-87. The Port was awarded to Gopalpur Ports Private Limited for transforming it into an all-weather direct berthing port in PPP mode. The Concession Agreement between the Government of Odisha and Gopalpur Ports Private Limited was signed on the 14th of September 2006.
At present, the Port has 03 (three) berths built over a length of 800m to accommodate multiple vessels with an annual cargo handling capacity of 20 MMT.
This port has generated direct and indirect employment opportunities for 8,000 persons. The port will also facilitate industrial as well as economic growth of the State in general and Southern Odisha in particular.
In the 1st Phase, 393.670 Acre of land was handed over to Gopalpur Port Private Limited. Today, land measuring 119.716 acres was handed over for further development and expansion of the port.
