Major ports register positive growth of 3.77 per cent

New Delhi: The major ports in India have recorded a growth of 3.77 per cent and together handled 518.6 million tonnes of cargo during the period April to December 2018 as against 499.7 million tonne handled during the corresponding period of previous year, said Union Ministry of Shipping in a statement on Saturday.

For the period from April-December 2018, nine ports Kolkata including Haldia, Paradip, Visakhapatnam, Kamarajar, Chennai, Cochin, New Mangalore, JNPT and Deendayal have registered positive growth in traffic.

"The highest growth was registered by Kamarajar Port (18.38 per cent), followed by Cochin (8.92 per cent), Kolkata including Haldia (8.74 per cent), Paradip (8.11 per cent), and JNPT (7.39 per cent).

According to the ministry, Kamarajar port growth was mainly due to increase in traffic of container (41.20 per cent), other miscellaneous cargo (46.66 per cent, thermal and steam coal (8.75 per cent) and other liquids (7.5 per cent).

In Kolkata port, the overall growth was 8.74 per cent. Kolkata Dock System (KDS) registered traffic growth of 0.42 per cent, whereas Haldia Dock Complex (HDC) registered a growth of 12.42 per cent.

During the period April to December 2018, Deendayal (Kandla) port handled the highest volume of traffic, that is, 84.91 million tonnes (16.37 per cent share), followed by Paradip with 80.43 million tonne (15.51 per cent share), JNPT with 52.53 million tonne (10.13 per cent share), Visakhapatnam with 49.28 million tonne (9.5 per cent share) and Kolkata including Haldia with 45.82 million tonne (8.83 per cent share). Together, these ports handled around 60 per cent of major port traffic.

The commodity wise percentage share of petroleum, oil, and lubricants (POL) was maximum, that is, 33.20 per cent, followed by container (20.8 per cent), thermal and steam coal (15.09 per cent), other miscellaneous cargo (10.48 per cent), coking and other coal (8.27 per cent), iron ore and pellets (5.75 per cent), other liquid (4.23 per cent), finished fertiliser (1.23 per cent) and FRM (0.94 per cent).