Cargo handling at Gujarat's non-major ports up 13% in FY 12

Gujarat Maritime Board (GMB) today said non-major ports in the state have registered a 12.9 per cent growth in cargo handling at 259 million tonnes (MT) in FY 2011-12, PTI reports. The non-major ports of the state had handled cargo traffic of 231 MT in 2010-11. The traffic has increased considerably at most of the non-major ports like Bhavnagar, Okha, Bedi, Navlakhi, Mundra, Magdalla/Hazira, Pipavav, Dahej, Porbandar and Sikka, the State port regulator said in a statement here. The non-major ports in Gujarat are projected to have traffic handling capacity of more than 500 MT per annum by 2015-16, and of over 1,000 million tonnes by 2020, it said. "GMB has bagged many achievements and it will continue to strive for the betterment of ports in Gujarat," GMB Chief Executive Officer Pankaj Kumar said. The creation of new capacities in last fiscal has increased the ports' cargo traffic handling capacity to 323 MT, a rise of 13.7 per cent. The total cargo handling capacity of the non-major ports in Gujarat stood at 284 MT in 2010-11. The capacities were created through development works undertaken in the coastal regions of Gujarat like Mundra, Jamnagar and Bharuch, the statement said. According to GMB, Asia's largest ship breaking yard at Alang in Bhavnagar district dismantled a record number of 415 ships in the last fiscal.