The Hindu Business Line : Govt plans doubling of ports' capacity

Mangalore June 22 The Union Government has planned to double the total capacity of major and non-major ports in the country by 2012. The vision of the Government is to have a capacity of 1,500 million tonnes per annum (mtpa) in the major and non-major ports in the country as on March 31, 2012, from the current capacity of 750 mtpa, according to Mr Rakesh Srivastava, Joint Secretary (Ports), Department of Shipping, Union Ministry of Shipping, Road Transport and Highways. In an informal chat with presspersons at the inauguration of CCTV (closed circuit television) surveillance system at the New Mangalore Port Trust (NMPT) on Friday, he said the Government is taking a number of measures either through budgetary support or by giving permission to the ports for internal or external borrowings.

Stating that GDP is likely to grow at 10 per cent in the next few years, he said ports would play a major role in this matter as they (ports) are handling almost 95 per cent of the export-import trade in the country.

He said there are lots of opportunities for the NMPT in the field of fertilisers and food grains that are imported.

CCTV

Earlier speaking at the inauguration of CCTV surveillance system, Mr P. Tamilvanan, NMPT Chairman, said New Mangalore is the second major port in the country to introduce this system. The Chennai port is the first one to introduce this system. In all, nine cameras have been placed at vantage points in the port. These cameras are connected to a central system by wireless system.

Mr Tamilvanan said the total cargo handling of the port crossed 8 million tonnes on Friday morning. This is 1.8 million tonnes more than the previous fiscal, he added.