Kolkata Port Registers 30% Growth In Container Traffic

The Kolkata port registered an impressive 29.87 per cent growth in container traffic in the April-May 2016 over corresponding period last year, government today said.

There was an average rise of 4.27 percent in container traffic at all major ports in the country, it said. During the period, KoPT, which stands for Kolkata Port Trust, handled 564 ships — the highest among Indian Major Ports.

“KoPT handled 1,25,101 TEUs (twenty foot equivalent unit) in April-May2016 vis-a-vis 96,326 TEUs in April-May 2015, registering the highest growth of 29.87 percent among Indian Major Ports (against 4.27 percent growth registered by Major Ports),” Ministry of Shipping said in a statement. As far as cargo traffic was concerned, the port handled during April-May 2016 handled 8.011 Million Tonnes (MT) of traffic. 

“KoPT registered growth in April-May 2016 vis-a-vis April-May 2015 in respect of other liquid cargo, manganese ore, other ore, fertiliser, limestone, other coke, fly ash, pulse, container TEUs and tonnage, other miscellaneous cargo etc,” the statement said. 

The government said that the Kolkata port ranks first in terms of quantum of coking and other coke/coal handling, second in liquid cargo handling amongst Indian major ports in April-May 2016.The statement said in April-May 2016, KoPT handled rail-borne traffic of 4.091 MT.

India has 12 major ports, which are Kandla, Mumbai, JNPT, Marmugao, New Mangalore, Cochin, Chennai, Ennore, V O Chidambarnar, Visakhapatnam, Paradip and Kolkata (including Haldia) which handle approximately 61 percent of the country’s total cargo traffic.