Slowdown hits non-major ports as cargo volumes drop

Efficiency brings cheer to major ports

The 12 major ports in the country have outpaced the 187-odd non-major ones in terms of cargo growth. While cargo traffic at all ports increased by 1.1 per cent in the first six months of FY16, compared to the same period a year ago, major ports reported a growth of 4.1 per cent. On the other hand, non-major ports reported a one per cent fall during the period under review.

Major ports are ones that can handle a large volume of cargo. These include Chennai Port, Cochin Port, Jawaharlal Nehru Port, etc.

Adani Ports and special economic zones’ flagship Mundra Port, Reliance Jamnagar port (captive), Krishnapatnam (Chennai), Essar Vadinar and Kakinada Seaports are non-major ports.

While cargo traffic at Indian ports had increased 8.2 per cent to 1,052.2 million tonnes (mt) in FY15, traffic at non-major ports rose at a faster rate than at major ports.

The major ports handled 499.23 mt between April 2014 and January 2016 against 483.02 mt handled during the corresponding period of the previous year. The overall growth in traffic handled has been 3.36 per cent during the period. Data for non-major ports could not be accessed.

The major ports in the country registered an overall improvement in the performance parameters during April-December 2015 compared to the corresponding period of last year, leading to higher growth.

The major ports’ overall performance is broadly measured by three parameters — average turnaround time of vessels on port (in days), average pre-berthing time on port (in hours), and average output per ship berthday (in tonnes).