[7] The Odisha government has plans to develop related industries near the new port, including a shipbuilding yard and a petrochemical and gas-based manufacturing hub.

A special investment region has been proposed for Dhamara, and a zoning plan is being prepared to cover housing, health services and other urban infrastructure.

During the year 1997 Government of Odisha invited M/s International Seaports dredging Private Limited (ISDPL) to explore and evaluate the possibilities of expanding the minor port at Dhamra with modern contemporary facilities.

Based on a review of studies undertaken by the Government of Odisha and Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Chennai, as well as a preliminary field analysis ISDPL proposed a broad project approach.

Development of a suitable road and rail system linking the port with the national network is also considered a vital and integral part of the project.

[11] In September 2010, the port received its first cargo vessel, an Australian ship bringing 45,000 tonnes of coking coal to supply Tata Steel's Jamshedpur plant.

An unusually violent cyclone in 1999 created tidal surges 7 meters high that swept inland, killing 10,000 people and causing property damage that affected several million inhabitant of the coastal strip.

Although the port site is not a nesting area, environmentalists are concerned that dredging and industrial pollution will disrupt the environment and the natural food chain.

[15] In July 2007, Greenpeace activists staged a rally in front of Bombay House, headquarters of the TATA Group, demanding a halt to construction of the port which they claimed would harm the turtles.