No decision yet on proposed port at Barunai mouth in Orissa

The Orissa government is yet to decide on awarding the port development project at Barunai in coastal Kendrapara district for which five firms, including the world?s largest steel maker ArcelorMittal, have submitted bids.

?The Orissa government will decide on the developer of the port on the basis of competitive bidding,? commerce minister Sanjeev Kumar Sahoo told the assembly in reply a question.

Besides ArcelorMittal, there are four others ? Jamshedpur -based Adhunik Metaliks, Chennai-based SPI Ports Pvt Ltd and Sical Logistic Ltd besides Mundra Port and SEZ Limited, Mumbai has given proposals.

While Adhunik Metaliks proposed to set up a 10-30 million tonne (MT) capacity port at Barunai at an investment of Rs 1683.62 crore, SPI Ports expressed interest to build a 19.76- 41.79MT capacity port at an investment of Rs 1,550 crore.

Sical Logistic wanted to set up a 18-46MT capacity port at an estimated cost of Rs 2,500-3,600 crore and Mundra company proposed to invest Rs 5,000 crore, the minister said.