Cargo handling at 12 major ports up 9% at 47 million tonnes in April
10 May 2014
Cargo handling at India's 12 major ports increased by 9 per cent year-on-year to 47 million tonnes in April, the first month of the current financial year, against a negative 6 per cent growth registered in April last year.
''Tuticorin Port (V.O. Chidambaranar) recorded highest growth in traffic by 36.3 per cent last month followed by Mumbai (31 per cent) and Murmugao (23.2 per cent) in comparison to April last year,'' according to an official statement of the shipping ministry.
In terms of volumes, Kanlda port handled over 6.9 million tonnes last month, the highest among the ports in April 2014, with a share of 14.7 per cent, followed by Paradip port which handled over 6.4 million tonnes.
In all over 47 million tonnes was handled last month by various major ports of the country.
Among commodities, handling of fertilizers increased by 25 per cent in April 2014 in comparison to April 2013.
Iron ore handling has shown a sharp increase of 16.8 per cent against negative growth of 62.3 per cent in the previous year.
Total cargo traffic at India's major ports during 2013-14 stood at 555.50 million tonnes, an increase by 1.8 per cent, compared with 545.83 million tonnes handled in 2012-13.
The 12 major ports that include Kandla, Mumbai, JNPT, Marmugao, New Managlore, Cochin, Chennai, Ennore, V O Chidambarnar, Visakhapatnam, Paradip and Kolkata (including Haldia) account for 61 per cent of the country's total cargo traffic.
.webp)
