Major ports clock 25% rise in surplus

The country’s major ports, excluding Ennore Port, have reported 25 per cent increase in net surplus at Rs 2,809.69 crore in 2007-08, compared with Rs 2,236.90 crore in 2006-07. Their income rose to Rs 7,571.06 crore from Rs 6,867.52 crore a year ago, an increase of 10 per cent.

These ports include Kolkata (including Haldia), Paradip, Visakhapatnam, Chennai, Tuticorin, Cochin, New Mangalore, Mormugao, Mumbai, Jawaharalal Nehru Port Trust (JNPT), and Kandla.

According to Indian Ports Association (IPA) sources, total expenditure of these ports rose 2 per cent to Rs 4,761.37 crore from Rs 4,630.62 crore in 2006-07. Expenditure on salaries and wages rose 20 per cent to Rs 1,507.83 crore, from Rs 1,250.27 crore in 2006-07. As on March 31, 2008, manpower available at these ports was 61,165, compared with 63,193 in 2006-07.

Expenditure on dredging (capital and maintenance) came down by 7 per cent to Rs 543.86 crore compared with Rs 587.13 crore in the year-ago period, while the per-tonne handling cost came down by 2 per cent to Rs 68.85 compared with Rs 70.11 during the same period last year.

The number of vessels called at the major ports, including Ennore, rose to 21,606 in 2007-08, compared with 20,284 a year ago, an increase of 6 per cent.

Cargo traffic increased by 11 per cent to 519 million tonnes in 2007-08 from 463 million tonnes in 2006-07. Imports registered 10 per cent increase to 277 million tonnes from 250 million tonnes while exports rose to 208 million tonnes from 185 million tonnes, an increase of 12 per cent.

Container traffic rose 21 per cent to six million TEUs in 2007-08 compared with 5 million TEUs in 2006-07. JNPT continued to be number one in container traffic.

The number of containers handled by the port in 2007-08 was four million TEUs. It was followed by Chennai port, which handled 1 million TEUs, compared with 0.8 million TEUs in 2006-07.