The Hindu Business Line : Marginal rise in major ports' handling, but short of target

The tentative figures compiled by the Indian Ports Association (IPA) on the traffic handled by the major ports in the country reveal a growth of 2.35 per cent over last year when the total traffic handled was 281.105 million tonnes. "The cargo handled by the 13 major ports in the country reflects the over-all slump in the market,'' Government sources said.

NEW DELHI, April 17

THE major ports in the country handled 287.714 million tonnes of cargo during April 2001 to March 2002, marginally short of the target of 289 million tonnes set by the Government.

"The cargo handled by the 13 major ports in the country reflects the over-all slump in the market,'' Government sources said.

The traffic volumes handled by the major ports shows that exports have not picked up. Significantly, the petroleum, oil and lubricants (POL) traffic has not increased to the desired levels, the sources said.

While JNPT and Mormugao port registered the maximum increase over last year, Kolkata and Chennai ports showed a steep decline in their cargo handling figures.

JNPT handled 22,653 tonnes of cargo during 2001-2002, an increase of 21.95 per cent over the last year's figure of 18,575 tonnes.

Whereas, Mormugao port handled 22,928 tonnes of cargo during the year, registering an increase of 16.81 per cent over the level of 19,628 tonnes achieved last year.

The traffic handled at Kolkata Dock System declined by 24.92 per cent from 7158 tonnes last year to 5374 tonnes this year.

Chennai port registered a decline in traffic of 12.38 per cent from 41,220 tonnes last year to 36,115 tonnes this year.

The debutant among major ports, Ennore Port, handled a traffic of 3401 tonnes during the year.

Haldia Dock Complex handled 25,016 tonnes of cargo during 2001-2002 as against the traffic of 22,842 tonnes achieved during last year, showing a growth of 9.52 per cent.

Paradip port clocked a growth in traffic of 6.18 per cent from 19,901 tonnes last year to 21,131 tonnes this year.

Visakhapatnam port handled 44,344 tonnes (down 0.76 per cent from last year) and Tuticorin 13,017 tonnes (up 5.97 per cent from last year).

The traffic handled at Cochin port declined by 7.75 per cent from 13,117 tonnes last year to 12,100 tonnes this year.

New Mangalore handled 17,501 tonnes of cargo, Mumbai handled 26,407 tonnes (down 2.42 per cent from last year) and Kandla port handled 37,727 tonnes.

The sources said that the POL traffic handled by the major ports during the year accounted for about 39 per cent of the total traffic. The POL traffic normally accounts for more than 40 per cent of the total traffic handled at major ports.

"This indicates that the refining capacity in the country has not picked up and there was a mismatch in the in-take and refining capacity,'' the sources said.

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