Both Chennai and Kamarajar ports cross ₹1,000 crore operating income in a single FY

For the first time, both Chennai Port Authority (CPA) and its subsidiary, Kamarajar Port Ltd (KPL) in Ennore, North Chennai, crossed ₹1,000 crore (each) in operating income in a financial year in 2023-24.

This is owing to the higher cargo handling by both the major ports during the fiscal.

The CPA reported an operating income of ₹1,056 crore for the fiscal ending March 31, 2024 as against ₹969 crore the corresponding last year, an increase by nine per cent. Net surplus was up by 36 per cent to ₹218 crore (from ₹156 crore).

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Similarly, KPL reported operating income of ₹1,060 crore for FY24 as against ₹983 crore in the previous year, an increase by eight per cent. Net surplus was up by 32 per cent.

Financial performance of both CPA and KPL was very good in FY24 despite heavy competition, said Sunil Paliwal, Chairperson for both the major ports that are located within a distance of 25 km.

Operating income of CPA has surpassed ₹1,000 crore for the first time in the history, he told businessline. Net surplus was the highest ever for the last 13 years, he added.

Operating ratio for CPA worked out to 63.17 per cent, which was the best in the last 16 years. The port has nearly 14,000 pensioners and 2,800 employees, he said.

For KPL it was 23 per cent as it is the youngest major port and a ‘lean’ port with not much overhead, he said.

Cargo handling

The annual performance was good due to better cargo handling at both the ports. The CPA reported a 5.29 per cent increase in handling to 51.53 million tonnes (mt) in FY24 while KPL reported a four per cent increase to 45.28 mt. “In the current fiscal, the combined handling will cross 100 mt,” he said.

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The CPA lost almost 1 mt of dry bulk due to decline in handling of cargo like maize, gypsum, silica sand and scrap. However, higher handling of containers offset the loss. It was a similar story at KPL, he said.

Containers

Both the ports saw an increase in container handling. The CPA’s container handling went up by eight per cent to 14.70 lakh teus (20 foot equivalent units) while KPL’s handling was up by 22 per cent to 6.71 lakh teus, he said.

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