Major ports of India have accomplished a significant feat. Country’s major ports managed the highest-ever cargo in 2022-23, touching the 795 million tonne mark. The information was conveyed by Sudhansh Pant, Secretary, Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways.
With transaction worth Rs. 5000 cr, the ministry of shipping has also crossed its FY23 asset monetisation target of about Rs. 3700 cr, added the Secretary. “Our major ports have handled the highest ever cargo in the history of the ports at 795 million metric tonne. This is 10 per cent higher than the previous year’s cargo handled,” Sudhansh Pant told media.
It is pertinent to note that Sarbananda Sonowal, Minister of Ports, Shipping and Waterways is also set to launch the ‘Green Port’ guidelines in order to turn India’s ports green.
Running from West to East, India’s 12 major ports are Deendayal (Kandla), Mumbai Port, Jawaharlal Nehru Port, Mormugao, New Mangalore, Cochin, Tuticorin (VO Chidambaranar), Chennai, Ennore, Visakhapatnam, Paradip and Kolkata (including Haldia).
“Four or five of the major ports, including Syama Prasad Mookerjee Port (Kolkata), Deendayal (Kandla), Jawaharlal Nehru Port and Paradip have recorded the highest ever cargo,” said Secretary Sudhansh Pant.
The Secretary also added that after a very long period of time, these major ports have attained a higher annual growth compared to the non-major ports. It must be noted that the non-major ports are administered by state governments. Many state governments have given such ports on lease to private partners. “So, this year (2022-23), major ports achieved an overall growth of 10.4%, while non-major ports achieved a growth 1.5 – 2% less than this,” stated Sudhansh Pant.
The secretary also informed that while the major ports comprised 54% of the total cargo and the share of non-major ports stood at 46% in FY22, share of major ports jumped to 55% in FY23. “So even 1 per cent shift is a very significant achievement for major ports, because despite so many challenges, they have increased their share by 1%,” he said.
Besides, the turnaround time has decreased by 3-4 hours to 48-49 hours in major ports. Inland waterway also increased their cargo handling by 16% to touch the 126 million tonne in 2022-23. It must be noted that the same figure stood at 109 million tonne in 2021-22.
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