The Dhamra Port project (Orissa), a 50:50joint venture (JV) between Larsen and Tourbo (L&T) and Tata Steel, has completed its first phase of construction and will be complete-lyoperationalby2010. Santosh Mohapatra, CEO, Dhamra Por tCompany,said at a media briefing here, "The port, whose project cost is estimated to be around Rs2,463 crore, has completed more than 25% of its construction work and is scheduled to become operational by April2010." The company started construction of the port in 2007 in spite of the concerns raised by NGOs that the port is a threat to an endangered species of turtles and the environment. The port includes construc-tionofa62-kmraUlinkbetween Dhamra and Bhadrak on Howrah-Chennai main line and a jetty of 700metre in the first phase with fully mechanized facilities for loading and unloading. "The delay and modification in the project has increased its cost from Rs 1,500 crore initially to Rs2,463. Also, Rs 600crore has already been spent in phase I and machinery worth Rs 600 to 700 crore is already placed," Mohapatra adds. The Dhamra port project has been caught up in controversy with international conservation group Greenpeace saying the project would kill thousands of rare olive ridley turtles.