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The poor condition of road connectivity to New Mangalore Port Trust (NMPT) is affecting its growth.
Exporters from various sector expressed this view at an exporters’ meet, jointly organised by Karnataka Bank Ltd and the Federation of Indian Export Organisations (FIEO) here on late Wednesday evening.
Walter D’Souza, Chairman of FIEO, Southern Region, said that NMPT is poised for good growth.
However, hinterland development is possible when there is good connectivity. Because of the poor connectivity, nearly 40 per cent of its export is being done in ports in the neighbouring states, he said.
Cargo movement
Jeethan Sequeira, Managing Partner of Marinelinks (a shipping agency), said that the poor road connectivity has affected the movement of cargoes such as granite from the port.
D’Souza said that this issue has been brought to the notice of the State Government several times. Several participants opined that frequent political uncertainties in the state are affecting infrastructure development projects like this.
Nowneeth Kumar, Deputy Traffic Manager, NMPT, said that the port has been doing progress in some of the commodities, in spite of bottlenecks like this.
The port was exporting 10,000 tonnes of coffee cargo nearly six years ago. Now it is doing 1.45 lakh tonnes, which is almost 52 per cent of the coffee cargo share of India. It may be less in terms of volume, but it is significant in terms of forex earnings, he said.
Port traffic
Stating that traffic has come down in all the ports in the past 60 days, he said: “It is a trend. We have to cope up with it.”
Following NMPT’s proactive measures in marketing, a Bellary-based company has agreed to route three of its coal cargo ships through New Mangalore.
Nowneeth Kumar hoped that the coastal cargo movement of the company would provide around one million tonnes of iron ore fine cargo in the days to come. “That is a big boost to us,” he added.
D’Souza informed the meet that NMPT will convene a meeting of its users in September to discuss their issues.
M.R. Vasudeva, Airport Director, Mangalore Airport, gave an insight into the progress made in the establishment of an air cargo complex at Mangalore airport.
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