RITES to prepare master plan for rail, road connectivity of Paradip Port

Kolkata: Responding to a request by the Paradip Port Trust (PPT), the Rail India Technical & Economic Services (RITES) has decided to prepare a master plan for rail and road infrastructure for the port.

RITES has constituted a high-powered expert committee to undertake the job. Mr S.K. Roy, a retired IRTS officer will be the project leader while Mr A. Ramji, a former General Manager of SER, and Mr Shanti Narain, a former member (traffic) of Rail Board, will be the other members.

Mr I.D. Amin and Mr Ramani, two former General Managers, too will be associated with it and Mr G.D. Brahma, General Manager, RITES, will be the coordinator. The team will shortly visit Paradip and is expected to finalise its findings within six months. The need for a master plan for rail-cum-road infrastructure for Paradip port has arisen because of the poor level of connectivity to the port town even as the prospects of economic activity picking up in the region are bright. The condition of the two roads, National Highway 5A, which links Paradip with National Highway 5, and State Highway 12, which connects Cuttack with Paradip, beggars description.

With the completion of the work on the doubling of the Cuttack-Paradip railway line, the rail connectivity however has improved a little and the work on electrification of the route is in progress. But that is not enough considering the amount of investments being planned for the region. There is a proposal for a new port, as part of the massive steel plant being planned by a Korean steel giant in the area. Several other entrepreneurs too are believed to have shown interest in making huge investments. PPT feels that the user industries must develop their own sidings. For example, Paradeep Phosphates Ltd, now under the management of K.K. Birla Group, does not have a siding of its own. It often creates problems for the port. PPT, therefore, is participating in two SPVs formed to improve both rail and road connectivity to the port.

It is participating in the equity of the Rs 430-crore Haridaspur-Paradip rail link project being executed by Rail Vikas Nigam Ltd (RVNL) in partnership with others. PPT is picking up 10 per cent of the Rs 185-crore equity. It has also committed Rs 40 crore and already paid Rs 10 crore in the SPV floated by National Highway Authority of India for widening NH 5A. PPT has also committed Rs 15 crore towards upgradation of the 90-km long Cuttack-Paradip road.