Major Ports mark positive growth of 3.46% during April-November, 2017

December 11, 2017: Major ports in India have recorded a growth of 3.46 percent and together handled 439.66 million tonnes of cargo during the period April to November, 2017 as against 424.96 million tonnes handled during the corresponding period of previous year.

For the period from April-November 2017, nine Ports (Kolkata (including Haldia), Paradip, Visakhapatnam, Chennai, Cochin, New Mangalore, Mumbai, JNPT and Kandla have registered positive growth in traffic.

The highest growth was registered by Cochin Port (17.93 percent), followed by Paradip (13.13 percent), Kolkata [incl. Haldia] (12.64 percent), New Mangalore (7.07 percent) and JNPT (5.69 percent).

Cochin Port growth was mainly due to increase in traffic of POL (25.15 percent) and containers (10.46 percent). There was decrease in traffic of other Liquids (-26.24 percent), fertilizer raw materials (-23.33 percent), finished fertilizers (-11.76 percent) and other miscellaneous cargo (-1.19 percent).

In Kolkata Port, overall growth was 12.64 percent. Kolkata Dock System (KDS) registered traffic growth of 4.33 percent, where as Haldia Dock Complex (HDC) registered positive growth of 16.70 percent.

During the period April to November 2017, Kandla Port handled the highest volume of traffic i.e. 72.03 million tonnes (16.38 percent share), followed by Paradip with 64.97 million tonnes (14.78 percent share), JNPT with 43.26 million tonnes (9.84 percent share), Mumbai with 42.33 million tonnes (9.63 percent share), and Visakhapatnam with 40.95 million tonnes (9.31 percent share). Together, these five ports handled around 60 percent of major port traffic.

Commodity-wise percentage share of POL was maximum i.e. 34.02 percent, followed by container (19.89 percent), thermal & steam coal (13.07 percent), other miscellaneous cargo (12.37 percent), coking & other coal (7.47 percent), iron ore & pellets (6.58 percent), other liquid (4.22 percent), finished fertilizer (1.28 percent) and FRM (1.10 percent).

Recently, Union Shipping and Ports minister Nitin Gadkari laid the foundation stone of a Rs 970-crore International Ship Repair Facility (ISRF) at Cochin Shipyard Limited, which will make Cochin a global ship repair hub. Giving boost to the maritime sector under Sagarmala, a world class Center of Excellence in Maritime and Ship Building (CEMS) is also being set up with campuses at Vishakhapatnam and Mumbai, which will provide industry-relevant skill development, equip students with employable engineering and technical skills in the port and maritime sector.

These steps have resulted in India gaining prominence in the global maritime arena. In the recent elections to the IMO Council, India secured the second highest number of votes and was re- elected in Category-B which means states with the largest interest in international seaborne trade. The IMO Council consists of 40 member countries. Gadkari described it as a proud moment for the country.