Goa port looks to tap container traffic from neighbours

Its revenues hit by the Supreme Court-enforced mining ban, Goa's only major port is now trying to tap container traffic from north Karnataka and Maharashtra to boost its business.

A statement issued by Mormugao Port Trust (MPT) chairman P. Mara Pandiyan says the port is willing to offer operational sops to exporters to promote the container traffic business in the neighbouring states.

"One-to-one service would be given so that the consignment can be loaded onto the ship till the last minute. There is no cutoff time for loading the consignment," Pandiyan said, even as busy traffic in other nearby ports at Mumbai and Mangalore makes it difficult for their authorities to render personalized service to exporters.

Pandiyan said that the MPT was also willing to take on lease land in the neighbouring district of Belgaum, to hold containers in order to facilitate the cargo movement to the Goa port, which in absence of iron ore exports, is facing a severe business crunch.

Pandiyan said the port was looking to explore trade ties with Hubli and Bagalkot districts of Karnataka, and Kolhapur in Maharashtra.

The Goa port, long known as a mono-commodity port due to its heavy dependence of iron ore, has now resorted to exporting maize, granite and even wood. The effort, Pandiyan said, was to make the MPT a multi-commodity port.