CII wants external agencies to help upgrade Kolkata port

Accommodation of deep draft vessels has always been a problem at the Kolkata Dock System (KDS) because of shallow draft, and therefore, external agencies should be roped in immediately to undertake extensive dredging to maintain navigability of the KDS approach channel.

Businesses would greatly benefit if the Kolkata Port Trust (KoPT) did this, a study released by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) on West Bengal's port scenario said.

Dredging Corporation of India Ltd was already helping maintain the navigability in of the channel to the Haldia Dock System (HDS) of KoPT, but more action was needed for KDS, noted the report.

KDS was a riverine facility and access to it was hampered by the existence of numerous sand bars and several sharp bends from the sea.

KDS could currently receive vessels of maximum length of only 172 metre, the Budge Budge docks (BBD) upto 189m, while vessels of up to 240m could berth in Haldia.

Kolkata port's current annual maintenance dredging load was above 20 million cubic metre, the report noted.

String demand from major users at KDS, HDS and BBD had exposed the limited capacity of these facilities and this was leading to congestion problem, pre-berthing delays and longer ship turn around time (TAT), the report noted.

Businesses were suffering as a result.

The report noted KDS and HDS lacked specialised equipment like forklift trucks and specialised handling attachments for cranes.

In addition, most of the existing equipment had surpassed their useful life and were mostly irreparable, so investments for their replacement was urgently needed.

The government should encourage public-private partnership (PPP) in port development but should also induct international port infrastructure development consultants to improve port's situation, said the report.

The virtual jetty, commissioned by KoPT at Saugor, might solve the draft problem to some extent as it would allow loading and unloading operations all round the year.

At present, this service was available only between mid-October and mid-March. The virtual jetty would be able to handle Panamax vessels with a draft of 10.5 mt along with other advantages like reduction of TAT.

The report said much of the congestion problem would get solved if Saugor port was commissioned.

Mitsui Corporation of Japan in collaboration with KoPT was expected to set up a major port at Saugor island, 150 kilometre south of Kolkata.

CII highlighted the many ongoing privatisation projects at both KDS and HDS and said these were expected to help businesses after completion.

The report also highlighted the most alarming problem facing KoPT users today - a large number of operational hurdles and time delays, leading to cost escalation for users.