Paradip is a town, a seaport and a notified area committee in Jagatsinghapur District in the Indian state of Orissa.

Geography

Paradip is located at . It has an average elevation of .

Economy

Port of Paradip is the primary seaport in the Indian state of Orissa. Paradip port handled 33,109,000 tonnes of cargo in 2005-2006, out of which 12,529,000 tonnes was thermal coal and 10,273,000 tonnes was iron ore.Located on the Bay of Bengal at latitude 20° 55.44' N and longitude 86°34.62' E, it is an artificial harbour which accepts sea traffic via man made lagoons. Former Chief Minister of Orissa Biju Patnaik, who was also a famed aviator and freedom fighter, spearheaded the port's establishment.

Paradip is emerging as a major investment in India with several upcoming steel plants including a gigantic $12 billion plant by POSCO, alumina refineries, thermal power plants, and a petrochemical complex. Paradip will become one of the five or six major Special Economic & Investment Regions planned in India, along the lines of Pudong in China, Rotterdam in Europe and Houston in North America, accelerating the transformation of the state of Orissa into one of the major manufacturing and commercial regions of the world within 10 years.

Demographics

As of 2001 India census, Paradip had a population of 73,633. Males constitute 58% of the population and females 42%. Paradip has an average literacy rate of 73%, higher than the national average of 59.5%: male literacy is 79%, and female literacy is 65%. 12% of the population is under 6 years of age.

In 2003, the population of Paradip surpassed 100,000.

References

External links

• Port of Paradip
• At Hannover, India’s big infrastructure idea: Special Economic Regions

See also

• Ports in India
• Kolkata Port