New Delhi: Major ports in India handled 326.4 million tonnes of cargo in the April-September period, an increase of 3.24% over the 316.1 million tonnes they handled a year ago.

According to the data released by the ministry of shipping, seven out of the 12 major ports in the country recorded traffic growth in the first half of the current fiscal.

These included ports in Kolkata, Paradip, Chennai, Cochin, New Managlore, Mumbai and Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust (JNPT) in Mumbai. Cochin Port registered the highest increase in traffic at 19.62% followed by Kolkata, New Managalore and Paradip at 12%.

The increase in growth was due to higher consignments of petroleum, oil and lubricants (POL) and containers. POL had the maximum share of traffic at 34.01%, followed by containers (20.22%), thermal and steam coal (12.66%), coking & other coal (7.6%), iron ore & pellets (6.65%).

“Growing ports are becoming catalysts for shaping the Prime Minister’s vision of a ‘New India’. The Government is committed towards inclusive development to generate continuous growth and prosperity. Timely delivery of projects will help give the much needed boost to economy," minister for ports and shipping Nitin Gadkari said,

Notably, India’s 12 major posted a record profit of Rs5,000 crore in the last fiscal year . Moves by the shipping ministry to reduce the turnaround time of ships and add non-core commodities to the freight basket helped the ports increase their profit from Rs4,000 crore in 2015-16.

Subscribe to Mint Newsletters * Enter a valid email * Thank you for subscribing to our newsletter.

Share Via