Paradip Port is a natural, deep-water port on the East coast of India in Paradip, just from Jagatsinghpur city in Jagatsinghpur district of Odisha, India. It is at the confluence of the Mahanadi river and the Bay of Bengal, south of Kolkata and north of Visakhapatnam.
The port is administered by the Paradip Port Authority (PPA)(formerly Paradip Port Trust), an autonomous corporation wholly owned by the Government of India.
History
Paradip is one of the major ports of India and the only major port in Odisha. Biju Patnaik, the then Chief Minister of Odisha, is the founding father of Paradip Port. It is situated 210 nautical miles south of Kolkata and 260 nautical miles north of Vishakhapatnam on the east coast on the shore of Bay of Bengal.
Jawaharlal Nehru, the then Prime Minister of India, laid the foundation stone of the port on 3 January 1962 near the confluence of the river Mahanadi and the Bay of Bengal.
Government of India took over the management of the port from the Government of Odisha on 1 June 1965. Maiden berthing was by INS Investigator on 12 March 1966. The port was declared open by Peter Stambolic, the Prime Minister of Yugoslavia on the same day. Government of India declared Paradip Port as the eighth major port of India on 18 April 1966 making it the first major port in the East Coast commissioned after independence.
The Port of Paradip, an autonomous body under the Major Port Trusts Act, 1963 functioning under Ministry of Shipping is administered by a board of trustees set up by the Government of India headed by the chairman. The Trustees of the Trust Board are nominated by Government of India from various users of the port such as shippers, ship owners, Government Departments concerned and also port labour. The day-to-day administration is carried out under general supervision and control of the chairman, assisted by the Deputy Chairman and other departmental heads.
Connectivity
The port is connected with Broad-gauge electrified Railway system for the East-Coast Railway and is also served by National Highway 53 and State Highway No.12. Port is well connected with Cuttack and Bhubaneswar with bus & train both the services.
The port is also connected by bus routes to the steel city of Rourkela, Kolkata and to the holy town of Puri & Konark.
The port is connected through lease line and broadband to other Ports, Ministry and IPA. Reliance, BSNL, Airtel, TATA Indicom etc. have cellular services at Paradip Port. 4G network facility is available in Paradip Port town.
Business facilities
Port harbor
The port of Paradip has an artificial lagoon type harbour protected by two rubble mound "Break Waters" and approached by the dredged channel. The North Break Water is 538 m long on the North-Eastern side of the port and the South Break Water is 1217 m long on the South-Eastern side.
The position of the Channels inside the harbour is as under:
Pilotage and towage facilities
The Pilotage is compulsory for all vessels above 200 MTs Gross Tonnage. The Pilotage service is available to all vessels during 24 hours and 365 days. The Pilot Boarding ground is about SE of Breakwaters. All the vessels have to inform their ETA prior to entering the port Limits to the port Signal Station on VHF Channel: 16 / 06. The port has 3 Nos. Tugs having BP more than 35 Tons and 2 Nos. of port Tugs having BP more than 50 Tons. All the tugs are fitted with fire fighting equipment for external general and oil fire. The port is having 3 Nos. Pilot Launches having speed more than 10 knots, 02 Nos. pilot lunches having speed of 7 knots and 02 Nos. Mooring Boats are also available for passing the Mooring Lines to the Berth / Jetty.