Around four proposed port projects in north Orissa are facing problems because of their proximity to defence establishment in Balasore district.
The projects are Kirtania Port, Chudamani Port, Inchuri Port and Bahabalpur Port. Except Chudamani port that comes under Bhadrak district, other projects are located in Balasore district where the Defence Research and Development Organisation has an interim test range centre from where the missiles are test fired.
The defence ministry has stated that there should not be any port between Kirtania and Dhamra on the northern part of the Orissa coast.
This has caused a stir amongst prospective investors who have evinced interest to establish ports. In 2006, Creative Port Development signed an MoU with the Orissa Government to set up 10-million tpa port at Kirtania with an investment of Rs 2,000 crore while the Aditya Birla Group signed MoU in 2009 for setting up an equal capacity port with an investment of Rs 1,500 crore at Chudamani.
