The Hindu Business Line : Kolkata airport to have multi-storeyed racking facility

Kolkata, July 1 Cargo movement at the Kolkata airport is expected to pick up this year led by a number of infrastructural upgradation projects to be operational shortly.

For the first time in the country, a new Automatic Storage Retrieval System would be operational at the Kolkata airport for handling imported cargo from August, a senior official at the airport told Business Line. The multi-storeyed racking facility entails a cost of Rs 10 crore, he said.

The system would be equipped with 1,080 racks capable of handling 1,000 tonnes of cargo. Currently, only 100 tonnes are imported at the airport leaving a huge scope for scaling up, the official said.

Perishable goods

Mr S.P.S. Bakshi, Project Director for Kolkata airport modernisation, said the Airport Authority of India would stress on upgradation of storage facility for export of perishable goods. “As a first step, we have built a centre for perishable cargo, which is a world class facility for preserving fruits, vegetables and meat.”

“There is a huge demand for Indian mangoes, litchi, beans, horticulture, chilled fish and mud-crabs in European countries and America,” he said. While the facility has a capacity of 40 tonnes, currently, only 5 tonnes of perishable goods are exported from Kolkata.

Leather garments and accessories (60 per cent) constitute the largest share among items exported from the airport followed by textile (15-20 per cent). Out of the total 25,000 tonnes of cargo exported last year, perishable items comprised a mere 1,700 tonnes (6.8 per cent), while tea constituted only 2 per cent.

Transport Vehicle

In an effort to boost export, the airport is also installing an Elevated Transport Vehicle for increasing the containerisation capacity. The facility will help in the storage of over 400 tonnes of cargo against 40-50 tonnes being stored now daily for export. This is expected to be operational in the next one month, officials said.

The airport is also expected to have an all-new domestic cargo terminal at an investment of Rs 100 crore. This is a part of the overall airport modernisation package and would take 18 months to be completed.

Kolkata airport receives five freighters every week. Nearly 40 per cent of total cargo is transported exclusively through freighters, while the rest is done through the belly-holds of passenger aircrafts. While imports had grown by over 35 per cent last year, exports had grown only by 13 per cent.