NEW DELHI: Two of India’s major ports showed healthy gains in cargo volumes in recent months. India’s Murmagao port handled a total traffic of 1.7 million tons during the month of June, 2016 as against 1.16 tons in June 2015, a 46-percent rate of increase.
The Kandla port achieved a six-percent growth in traffic during the first quarter of financial year 2016-17, as compared to the corresponding quarter of last year. A total of 26.03 million of cargo was handled from April 2016 to June2016, as compared to 24.62 million tons handled during the corresponding quarter of last year. Traffic handled at Murmagao from April 2016 to June, 2016 was 8.5 million tons as compared to 4.1 million tons handled during the corresponding period last year, an increase of 104 percent.
The growth at Murmagao was fueled by a surge in iron ore exports and coal imports during the first quarter. Container traffic increased by 31 percent and general cargo by eight percent during that period. Dry cargo at Kandla increased to 9.0 million ton as compared to 8.9 million tons during the same period last year. Liquid cargo during the same period has also increased to 3.2 million tons from 2.6 million tons.
India’s Ministry of Shipping has initiated measures to improve the performance of the ports, including mechanization of the terminals, improving turn-around time, quick evacuation of cargo, expansion of infrastructure, and skill development of employees. “The slew of measures taken by the Ministry of Shipping to improve performance of ports has started to yield positive results,” said a ministry statement.
