Noble Group has pulled out of a consortium building a port at Gopalpur on the eastern coast of India with an investment of Rs25,000m ($533m).

The group said it will not be involved in the expansion, development or operations of the port and expressed displeasure over the functioning of a special-purpose vehicle purchased for the port development.

The first phase expansion of the port will cost Rs14,000m ($299m) with operations expected to start by the end of 2011, according to business-standard.com.

The port’s operators plan to build three deepwater berths and two dry bulk cargo berths with a capacity to handle 120,000dwt vessels.