Kendrapada: Paradip Port Authority (PPA) chairman Susanta Kumar Purohit on Wednesday said the port has entered a new phase of expansion after being designated a ‘mega port’, a status expected to accelerate its transformation into a major maritime, logistics and industrial hub.The Centre notified Paradip as a mega port on Sept 25 under the Indian Ports Act, 2025, after it crossed the benchmark of 150 million metric tonnes (MMT) annual cargo handling.Paradip handled a record 156.45 MMT of cargo in 2025-26, more than double the 76.39 MMT handled in 2015-16. The port currently has a rated capacity of around 289 MTPA and aims to cross 500 MTPA by 2047, Purohit said.As part of its expansion plans, the proposed Rs 3,005-crore western dock project is expected to add nearly 25 MTPA capacity and enable the handling of larger capesize vessels.Purohit, in a statement, said Paradip is increasingly emerging as a logistics and industrial hub, supported by robust road and rail connectivity and a 100-acre multimodal logistics park being developed with CONCOR.The port has also been identified as a green hydrogen hub. The Centre has approved Rs 797.17 crore for a dedicated jetty and related infrastructure to handle green hydrogen, green ammonia and other liquid cargo with a proposed capacity of 4 MTPA.According to PPA, the wider Paradip region has a potential investment pipeline of over Rs 50,000 crore, which could significantly boost Odisha’s maritime economy.