Sarbananda Sonowal asks for Paradip Port capacity expansion by 2030

26 Apr 2022 CW Team

Sarbananda Sonowal, Union Minister of Ports, Shipping and Waterways, examined Paradip Port developments on Monday and directed to increase its capacity to 500 Million Metric Tonne Per Annum (mmtpa) by 2030.

According to media sources, the ministry evaluated different infrastructure projects, PPA Projects, the Port's operation, the ease of doing business initiative, the green initiative, and the Port's business development activities during the meeting.

Sonowal revealed a Rs 29.68 crore container scanner that can scan up to 25 trucks per hour in scan mode.

The container scanner meets international security screening standards and eliminates requirement of a manual container inspections by offering high-resolution imaging with organic and inorganic materials and would increase container traffic in the Port.

As part of the enhanced port connection from the National Highway (NH) at Paradip Port, the Minister laid the foundation stone for the second exit-cum-road flyover (Gati-Shakti Project).

This 2.4 km long road-cum-flyover serves as an alternate entry/exit option to/from the Port, allowing for safe and congested vehicle circulation.

As per the government, the project, which would cost Rs 93 crore, would help in separating cargo and passenger traffic to and from Port Township.

Sonowal also took part in a plantation dive at Aayush Garden and inaugurated the Sewerage Treatment Plant and Paradip College Boy's Hostel.

The Minister also attended a meeting with stakeholders and inaugurated the Biju Convention Centre.

He also met with representatives from IDCO and IOCL to discuss the Paradip Petroleum, Chemicals, and Petrochemicals Investment Region (PCPIR).

During a review of PCPIR's progress, he emphasised a collaborative approach for speedier development and overall development.

Image Source

Real Estate

05 Dec 2025

RBI Rate Cut Boosts Confidence Across Housing Market

Industry Context and Market DynamicsThe real estate industry has welcomed the RBI’s rate cut as a timely boost to affordability and demand. With home prices having risen steadily across major markets, even a marginal reduction in interest rates meaningfully strengthens purchasing power, especially for first-time and mid-income buyers.Ashish Jerath, President – Sales & Marketing, Smartworld Developers, observes:“The RBI’s 25-basis-point cut, bringing the repo rate down to 5.25%, is a timely boost for the real estate sector. Lower interest rates reduce borrowing costs, enabling homeb..

BMC Resumes Rs 170 Billion Road Works, Targets 80 per cent By Jan 2026

Following the withdrawal of the southwest monsoon in October, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has restarted work on 645 roads—covering 297.49 kilometres—under its large-scale concretisation programme. Data shows that more than 60 per cent of the resumed works are located in the western suburbs. Officials said the civic body aims to complete concretisation on 80 per cent of the roads where fresh work has begun by January 2026. Launched in 2022, the Rs 170 billion project seeks to concretise 700 kilometres of roads across Mumbai. All civil works were halted during the monsoon ..

India Pushes Digital Shift In Urban Land Mapping

The Department of Land Resources (DoLR) under the Ministry of Rural Development has convened a National Symposium on NAKSHA – the National Geospatial Knowledge-based Land Survey of Urban Habitations – to advance India’s transition to modern, technology-driven land mapping. Speaking at the inaugural session, Secretary Manoj Joshi underscored the urgent need to move revenue departments away from outdated, tape-based methods and rough hand-drawn sketches. He stressed that adopting latitude–longitude-based digital mapping and GIS-linked registration systems is essential for economic stabi..