Bhubaneswar: The Paradip Port chairman, Rinkesh Roy, Friday said that the port is going to join the ‘Exclusive Club’ of 100 million tonnes per annum(mtpa) with handling 100 million tonnes of cargo this fiscal.

“The port is poised to reach 100 mtpa mark in terms of cargo handling and thus by will join an “Exclusive Club” of ports that have handled 100 million tonnes namely Kandla and Mundra,” said Rinkesh, while addressing a flag hosting ceremony at Paradip on Republic Day. He said that the port is also amongst the top three terminals in the country in terms of rakes handled per day.

The  chairman said that the cargo handling capacity of the port  has been increased to 277 mtpa, which is the highest among all Major Ports in the country. Four projects namely mechanisation of EQ-1, 2 & 3, construction of a new Deep Draught Iron Ore Berth,  new Clean Cargo Berth and Container Berth are in various stages of progress.

Stating that the Clean Cargo Berth is slated for commissioning this year, Rinkesh said this will boost not only the economy of Odisha, but also nearby states. According to him, the work for the new Multi-modal Logistics Park spreading over 100 acres of land would be started by CONCOR this year.

Roy unveiled ‘Paradip Port News’ – the quarterly house journal of Paradip Port on this occasion.