Tata Steel acquires majority stake in Subarnarekha Port project in Odisha

Bhubaneswar: Tata Steel Limited (Tata Steel) on Wednesday executed definitive agreements with Creative Port Development Private Limited (CPDPL) and their promoters for the proposed development of Subarnarekha Port at Chaumukh village of Balasore district in Odisha.

As per the agreements, TSL will acquire majority equity stake in CPDPL, and the port development is envisaged through a wholly-owned subsidiary, Subarnarekha Port Private Limited (SPPL). The acquisition and development are subject to certain conditions precedent, detailed technical assessments, and financial closure.

CPDPL, promoted by two technopreneurs, Ramani Ramaswamy and Ramaswamy Rangarajan, had entered into a Concession Agreement with the Government of Odisha in January 2008 to develop the Subarnarekha Port as an all-weather deep-draft facility. A detailed engineering study to arrive at the configuration and the project cost will be undertaken soon.

Speaking on the development, Koushik Chatterjee, Group Executive Director (Finance & Corporate), Tata Steel, said: “The investment to develop the Subarnarekha Port will address the strategic needs of Tata Steel in the future. The location of the proposed port makes it attractive to structurally enhance the competitive position of our Indian operations and we look forward to working together with the current promoters to make Subarnarekha a very efficient port in the future. With the growth envisaged in Kalinganagar in the future, our offtake through Dhamra is also slated to increase”.

T V Narendran, Managing Director, Tata Steel India and South East Asia, commented: “As Tata Steel grows in India in the future, securing competitive logistics solution is a key aspect in de-risking our inbound and outbound supply chain. The proposed Subarnarekha Port will address the long-term strategic needs of the Company and we look forward to working with various stakeholders to develop this port. Our commitment to the State and people of Odisha will be reinforced with this investment”.