Gopalpur Ports Ltd

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In September 2006, the Government of Orissa (GoO) signed a contract of 25 years (including 4 years of construction period) to Gopalpur Port Company Ltd. (GPL) (Consortium of Orissa Stevedores Ltd., Sara international Ltd., and Noble Group Ltd.), for the development of an all weather Gopalpur port in Orissa. The port is expected to handle annual cargo of 5.5 million tonnes. Please note that Gopalpur port was designated as a minor port. Under the contract, GPL had the exclusive right to design, finance, build, manage and operate the Dhamra Port. When fully developed, the port was expected to handle all types of cargo such as dry bulk, break bulk, liquid and container cargo. The National Highway No. 5 (Kolkata-Chennai) passes about 6 Km from Gopalpur Port site. State Highway 7 and 17 are also connected with NH 5 and provide good road network in the region. There are two access roads connecting Gopalpur Port area to NH 5. The port project included rail connectivity to the main Howrah-Vishakhapatnam-Chennai broad gauge railway line. This railway siding is broad enough to handle a total cargo of more than 35 million tons. This connectivity would facilitate transport of forest produce and other agricultural products to the port of Gopalpur on sea and to larger markets on the coastal areas. The consortium won the international competitive tender, conducted by Department of Commerce and Transport, Orissa, by quoting the highest revenue share from operations. The consortium then established Gopalpur Port Company Ltd, a special purpose vehicle (SPV), for the execution of the project on a Build, Own, Operate, Share, and Transfer (BOOST) basis, and operate the existing port during the construction of the new facility. In October 2006, the state government transferred the operation of the port to the concessionaire. In 2007-08 shipping season [November-May], 18 vessels anchored at the minor port, which handled 2,46,738 MT of cargo. While during the shipment season of the year 2008-09, 11 vessels with a quantity of 2,52,351.800 MT were handled. In September 2009, the concessionaire made the first payment to the state government under the revenue sharing arrangement. The expansion of the port reached its financial closure in April 2010. The total cost of the expansion was estimated to be INR 12.12 billion project was estimated to be US$ 267.5 million (at INR 45.31 per US$ exchange rate) with a debt-equity ratio of 70/30. Construction commenced in September 2006 and the port was expected to be in commercial operation by 2010.