Cargo volume at major ports slip 21% in April; Chennai, JNPT severely hit

Chennai Port saw a massive 38.17 per cent fall in cargo handling to 2.44 MT, and JNPT declined by 33.97 per cent to 3.95 MT in April

The country's 12 major ports recorded a 21 per cent decline in cargo volumes at 47.42 million tonnes (MT) in April this year, mainly due to the coronavirus outbreak, according to the Indian Ports Association (IPA).

Ports like JNPT, Chennai, Cochin and Kamrajar witnessed a huge decline in cargo handling, according to the latest data.

India has 12 major ports under the control of the Centre - Deendayal (erstwhile Kandla); Mumbai, JNPT; Mormugao, New Mangalore; Cochin, Chennai, Kamarajar (earlier Ennore), V O Chidambarnar, Visakhapatnam, Paradip and Kolkata (including Haldia) that handled 705 million tonnes (MT) cargo in the last fiscal.