Paradip Port surpasses 69 MT target

Paradip Port Trust (PPT) has surpassed the target of handling 69 million tonnes of cargo, as fixed by the Ministry of Shipping for fiscal 2014-15.
The PPT has been able to handle 69.11 million MT of cargo on March 22, an official release said today.
During the corresponding period last year, the Port had handled 66.22 million tonnes of cargo.
With this increase, The Port has clocked a growth of 4.38 per cent in traffic 'throughput' in the current financial year.
"We have retained the second position among all major Ports in the country in terms of traffic 'throughput'," a senior official said.

During the period, the Port handled 29.30 million tonnes of thermal coal showing a growth of 17.08 per cent, 7.65 million MT of coking coal with an increase of 8.68 per cent and 4.20 million MT of Fertilizer Raw materials with a growth of 6.78 per cent compared with the same period last year, the release said.

Meanwhile, the PPT has signed a concession agreement in March this year with Paradip International Cargo Terminal Pvt (PICT) for development of a multipurpose clean cargo terminal of 5 MMTPA through the PPP mode on Build Operate and Transfer (BOT) basis, it said.

The Port has also issued letter of award to the consortium of JSW and South West Ports for developing a 10 MMTPA capacity iron ore terminal.
With these projects and mechanization of the existing five berths, the total capacity of the Port will be enhanced to 177 MMTPA from the existing 108.5 MMTPA by 2019, the release said.