DP World-operated International Container Transshipment Terminal (ICTT) at Kochi has completed 10 years of existence, achieving its all-time highest monthly throughput of more than 70,000 TEUs in January, registering a 36 per cent growth over January 2020.
ICTT is India’s first transshipment hub strategically located in close proximity to major global east-west trade routes. Since inception, the terminal has handled 4.68 million TEUs and 5,661 vessel calls including 1,858 mainline vessel calls. In 2020, despite major business disruptions, the terminal handled 6.31 lakh TEUs, registering marginal decline of 0.35 per cent over 2019 volumes, while the South India market collectively registered an average degrowth of 11.2 per cent.
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ICTT has played a key role in making Kochi a strategic hub to enhance trade in the South India region. The terminal provides connectivity to the hinterland through multi-modal transportation including rail and inland waterways. Cargoes from all industrial clusters in Kerala and the major ones in Tamil Nadu (Coimbatore, Pollachi and other hubs) can reach the terminal within six hours. In 2020, DP World launched a direct weekly rail connection to Bangalore. This resulted in an impressive five-fold increase in rail volumes, a statement issued here said.
The terminal offers various direct connections to Europe, the Mediterranean, the Far East, South East Asia and the Middle East. The terminal continues to be highly efficient and productive with average truck turnaround time of 27 minutes, and average gross crane rate (GCR) of 30+ moves per hour, which is at par with global standards.
Praveen Joseph, CEO, DP World Cochin, said, “ICTT is a key example of DP World’s commitment to India’s trade growth.” The terminal has played a crucial role in boosting trade from South India. The company has been at the forefront of implementing various initiatives, to enhance trade and facilitate ease of doing business, such as RFID-based automated gates to enhance safety and efficiency, ZODIAC an in-house developed terminal operating system to enhance terminal efficiency, and 24x7 Customs to facilitate direct port delivery.
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Further, successful implementation of Bharat Trade for paperless transactions has resulted in conversion of 50 per cent of manual gate transactions on to a digital platform, he added.
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