The Hindu Business Line : Record cargo handling at Mundra port

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Ahmedabad Feb. 19 The Mundra Port and Special Economic Zone Ltd has achieved a new peak in cargo handling volumes by handing 11.03 million tonnes of dry, liquid and crude oil cargo for the period April 2006 to January 2007 against the 8.13 million tonnes for the entire financial year 2005 - 06, the Gujarat-based company said on Saturday.

January also witnessed several new peaks. The port handled 268 rail rakes in the month against an all-time best of 217. It handled 213 wheat rakes against 130 in December last . The other notable achievement is handling of 7.10 lakh tonnes of wheat by rail against 5.49 lakh tonnes handled in the previous month, with cooperation from the railways.

The single buoy mooring facility, commissioned in December 2005, is functioning normally. Extensive warehousing facilities coupled with mechanised handling and IT enabled documentation for quick compliance of procedures ensured rapid turn around time, and in turn led to Mundra becoming a port of choice by the trade.

The Mundra Port and SEZ Ltd promoted by the Adani Group recently became the first SEZ in the country to have multi-modal connectivity through air, sea and rail. With the commissioning of Palanpur - Samakhiali railway link, the double-stacker container trains have benefited the inbound and out-bound traffic from the northern hinterland to Mundra Port, which has world-class bunkering facilities and supplies bunker fuel of international quality at competitive prices.

The port has been operational since 1998 and cargo volumes are anticipated to touch fifty million tonnes by 2010 from the present level of 18 million tonnes, comprising solid, liquid, crude oil and container cargo in 2006 - 07.