Paradip: the eighth Major Port of India and the first on the East Coast after independence

Background

Paradip is one of the Major Ports of India, and the port records Biju Patnaik, the then Chief Minister of Odisha, as its founder father. Jawaharlal Nehru, the then Prime Minister of India, laid the foundation stone of the port on 3rd January 1962 near the confluence of the river Mahanadi and the Bay of Bengal. The Government of India took over the management of the port from the Government of Odisha on 1st June 1965. The port was declared open by Peter Stambolic, the then Prime Minister of Yugoslavia. The Government of India declared Paradip Port the Eighth Major Port of India on 18th April 1966, making it the first major port on the East Coast to be commissioned after independence. Paradip Port Authority functions under the Ministry of Ports, Shipping & Waterways and is administered by a Board of Trustees set up by the Government of India and headed by its Chairman. The trustees are nominated by the Government of India from various users of the port, such as shippers, ship owners, the Government departments concerned and port labour. Day to day administration is carried out under the general supervision and control of the Chairman, assisted by the Deputy Chairman and other departmental heads.