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MUMBAI—India’s Dhamra Port, being built by Tata Steel
Ltd. and Larsen & Toubro Ltd., should be completed in
April 2010, two years behind schedule, a port executive
said.
The
port, which faces opposition from environmental
organizations including Greenpeace, will be built at a
cost of 25 billion rupees ($586 million), S.K. Mohapatra,
chief executive officer of Dhamra Port Co., said in
Mumbai.
The
delay may undermine
India’s
efforts to win more overseas investment even as the
economy may expand at 8 percent this year. The country
expects $35 billion in foreign direct investment in the
year ending March 31, while
China
had $74.7 billion of foreign investment in 2007.
The
project is an equal joint venture between Tata Steel,
India’s biggest steelmaker, and Larsen & Toubro, the
country’s biggest engineering company.
The
port, located in the eastern Orissa state, will be able
to handle up to 25 million tons of cargo a year and
receive bulk carriers with capacity of 180,000
deadweight tons. Deadweight tons are a measure of a
vessel’s capacity for carrying cargo, fuel and supplies.
The port will be built to the north of the river Dhamra,
Mohapatra said.
The port
has been opposed by environmentalists on the grounds it
will affect the lives of Olive Ridley turtles,
Dhamra
Port
said in a statement.
“We have
done enough studies and are convinced that” the port
will not endanger the turtles, Mohapatra said.
(Bloomberg) |
