The government in Odisha has recently issued notification for setting up 12 new ports across its coastal lines and has signed MoUs with different entities and currently land is being acquired on fast tracked basis, said state's minister Nrusingha Charan Sahu, reminding that though notifications for these projects were issued 17 years ago but the construction work has not made any headway anywhere. MoU has been signed with the Navyug Engineering for the port at Astaranga in 2010 for which the land acquisition process is still on. The expansion works for the Dhamra and Gopalpur Ports are being carried out on fast tracked basis. After the proposed ports become functional, import and exports would increase, which in turn will boost job generation avenues across the state. It is worth mentioning here that in 1991, the government had issued notification to set up a port at Bahabalapur in Baleswar district and in 1996, a notification for another eight ports was also issued for Astaranga and Bali Harchandi ports in Puri district and also for Subarnarekha and Chandipur in Baleswar district, Bahuda in Ganjam district and Chudamani in Bhadrak district. Besides, a notification was also issued in 2000 for a port at Jatadhari Muhan in Jagatsinghpur and in 2009 notification was issued for a port at Talsari in Baleswar district and in 2017 a notification was again issued for a riverine port at Mahakalapada block in Kendrapada district.
