Odisha's Paradip Port registers 18% cargo growth in first quarter of FY18

Port handled 24.44 million tonnes of cargo in the first quarter

Paradip port has outpaced all major ports in terms of cargo growth, achieving 18 per cent volume growth in cargo handling in the April-June quarter. The Paradip Port Trust (PPT) handled 24.44 million tonnes (mt) of cargo during the said period, as compared to 20.59 mt in the corresponding period last year.

The number of vessels handled by the port has accordingly recorded a growth of 12.34 per cent as the port handled 437 ships in FY18 (up to June 2017). In the previous financial year 2016-17, it handled 389 ships during the same period.

The port has already taken a slew of measures to ensure improvement in daily productivity to 25,588 tonnes in FY18 (till June-end), from 22,161 tonnes last year. The average turnaround time has also improved to 4.40 days, from 4.53 days in the year-ago period. 

Berth occupancy stood at 67 per cent, marking a reduction of 2 per cent as compared to the previous year's figure. Meanwhile, traffic increased by 18.63 per cent in the first quarter of the current financial year.

The port has taken up a host of projects to increase its capacity to 325 million tonnes per annum (mtpa) by 2025, from its existing 143.44 mtpa.

Some of the ongoing projects include the development of a multi-purpose berth to handle clean cargo including containers on a build, operate and transfer (BOT) basis at an estimated cost of Rs 430.78 crore. The berth is expected to be operational by December 2018. This facility would be of immense value for exporters of marine products in Odisha. A deep-draught coal berth is also set to come up at a cost of Rs 655.56 crore with a capacity to handle 10 mtpa of cargo. That apart, the Container Corporation of India (Concor) would operate a port side container terminal at PPT from August this year.