Container traffic at major ports in India grew by almost 3 percent in the 11 months from April to February compared with a year earlier, the Indian Ports Association said in a statement.
The country’s 12 gateway hubs, six each on the west and east coasts, handled 6.2 million 20-foot equivalent units, up from 6 million TEUs in the same period in fiscal 2008-09.
While the throughput of 3.6 million TEUs at Jawaharlal Nehru (Nhava Sheva) and 1.1 million TEUs at Chennai, the country’s two largest container ports, remained at the same level as the previous year, the ports of Kolkata and Cochin reported modest gains.
Kolkata moved 459,000 TEUs compared with 398,000 TEUs. Volume at Cochin increased to 265,000 TEUs from 238,000 TEUs.
Traffic at Tuticorin fell to 397,000 TEUs from 400,000 TEUs. Mumbai’s volume went down to 52,000 TEUs from 88,000 TEUs. .
According to the latest IPA data, major ports saw overall tonnage surge by 5.5 percent to 509 million tons from 482.3 million tons during the same 11-month period the previous fiscal year.
The western Port of Kandla emerged as the country’s top cargo handler with throughput of 72.4 million tons, followed by Visakhapatnam, at 60 million tons; Chennai, 55.5 million tons; Nehru, 55 million tons; Paradip, 52 million tons; Mumbai, 50 million tons; and Mormugao, 43 million tons.
In fiscal 2008-09 ended March 31, cargo throughput at major ports rose 2.2 percent to 530 million tons from 519 million tons in 2007-08, while container volume increased to 6.85 million TEUs from 6.71 million TEUs.