The Hindu Business Line : Kolkata port plans tie-ups with shipbuilders

KOLKATA Port Trust (KoPT) is considering strategic alliances with two West Bengal-based shipbuilders, Garden Reach & Shipbuilders and Engineers (GRSE) under the Ministry of Defence and Hooghly Dock & Port Engineers (HDPE) under the Ministry of Shipping, to create additional facilities for ship-repairing.

The organisations have also started preliminary discussions, said Dr A.K. Chanda, Chairman of KoPT, who is on the board of GRSE and also holding the additional charge of Chairman of HDPE. "Time was when there were many ship-building and ship-repairing yards of various shapes and sizes along the banks of the Hooghly river, but not any more, for whatever reasons even as the demand for ship-repairing facilities is rising as a sequel to the jump in the number of ships calling at the port," Dr Chanda observed.

KoPT has revived ship-repairing work in its dry docks and the effort has not been in vain. KoPT has five dry docks, which undertake the repair of the port's own vessels and also take up jobs for others on a commercial basis. In 2004-05, 13 non-port vessels occupied the dry docks for 453 days as compared to nine vessels for 176 days in 2003-04. "We would like to supplement our effort with the experience and expertise of those already in the field for years," he said.

The KoPT Chairman, while addressing the annual press conference to highlight the performance of the port in 2004-05, also indicated the port's plan to develop a ship-building yard at Jellingham closer to the sea. The place was earlier the location of Burn Standard's offshore platform project. The site is now being vacated, as the company has withdrawn from it.

Cargo handling up: In 2004-05, KoPT handled a total of 46.16 million tonnes (mt) of traffic compared to 41.26 mt in 2003-04, achieving an 11.87 per cent growth, which is higher than the national average of 11.3 per cent for all major ports. The share of the Haldia dock at 36.21 mt (32.56 mt) showed a growth of 11.19 per cent and that of Kolkata Dock System at 9.94 mt (8.69 mt), a growth of 14.4 per cent. KoPT's share of traffic among major ports increased to 12.03 per cent (11.97 per cent).

"We now occupy the second position among major ports in the country in terms of cargo handling. Visakhapatnam port (50.14 mt) is occupying the number one position," said Dr Chanda, adding that Kolkata port regained this distinction after 37 years.

In addition to cargo handling, KoPT, according to its Chairman, has identified thrust areas such as the development of inland water transport (IWT) traffic, ship-repairing, shipbuilding and ship-breaking. The port's IWT traffic posted a growth of about 97 per cent at 4.30 lakh tonnes (2.18 lakh tonnes) during the year under review. "We are gradually stepping out of our traditional role as a provider of services for cargo handling and exploring new grounds," he said. Maritime education and consultancy services too are being given due importance. KoPT, as he pointed out, had already won renown as a reliable provider of consultancy services. It is also being reputed overseas, given the receipt of inquiries from Nigeria. Along with handling cargo, the port proposed moves that would help generate cargo. Thus, a special economic zone is being set up over 14 acres of land within the Kidderpore dock under the Kolkata Dock System.

The necessary infrastructure and supporting services would be provided at the dock to help set up tea processing and packaging units. The total cost of the project isestimated at Rs 28 crore (to be funded partly by the Commerce Ministry), he added.

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