All the former officers had "unblemished stints" of up to 20 years in the Indian Navy and held important positions, including that of instructors in the force, former military officials had said.
The project involves deepening and optimisation of inner harbour facilities including development of western dock on build, operate and transfer (BOT) basis under public-private partnership mode at the port, the Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways said in a statement on Sunday.
Paradip port is situated at the confluence of the Mahanadi river and the Bay of Bengal.
The 370-metre long terminal, with a capacity to handle 18 million tonne per annum, has already been commissioned by its arm JSW Infrastructure, the group said on Monday.
Gadkari will lay the foundation stone of six other projects at the port, including a LPG terminal, mechanisation of coal handling berth and development of coal import berth
According to union minister, Nitin Gadkari, JNPT SEZ will see an approximate investment of Rs 60,000 crore while the smart city at Paradip port will receive Rs. 40,000 crore as investment from the Centre
These memorandum of understandings (MoUs) are meant to make use of the synergies, strengths and expertise of the port and dredging sectors to enable the IWAI to accelerate the development of the Inland Water Transport (IWT) sector as an alternative, viable and environment friendly mode of transport.
This was made possible through loading of bigger parcel sizes, faster turnaround of vessels and minimised berth stay durations. "This year, our terminal has not only berthed the biggest vessel for loading, but also recorded the highest ever loading rate at Paradip Port," Rajiv Agarwal, Managing Director, Essar Ports, said in a statement.
The major growth was contributed with addition of 8 lakh tonnes of POL, 6 lakh tonnes of imported coking coal and 6 lakh tonnes of other cargo like imported lime stone, dolomite etc.
On Wednesday, Essar Ports announced a strategic pact with port of Antwerp with an investment of Rs 175 crore in Essar. In an interview with CNBC-TV18, Rajiv Agarwal, CEO & MD, Essar Ports said, "It is an investment of about Rs 175 crore."
With all works including construction of the coastal road connecting proposed Posco plant site with Paradip port stalled following a clash, Odisha government today said it would wait for ground situation to normalise before resuming project activities. "We have sought report form the ground.