The 12 major ports under the Shipping Ministry outperformed private ports for the second consecutive year in 2016-17, registering a traffic growth of 6.79 per cent, an official statement said on Wednesday.
In comparison, the private ports registered a traffic growth rate of 4 per cent this year, a ministry statement said.
Altogether, the 12 major ports operated by the Shipping Ministry handled a record 647.43 million tonnes of cargo in 2016-17.
"The top position in cargo handling was retained by Kandla Port that handled 105.44 million tonnes of cargo, registering a growth of 5.39 per cent over last year.
"This was followed by Paradip Port with 88.95 million tonnes of cargo and an impressive growth rate of 16.45 per cent," the statement said, adding that iron-ore traffic attained the highest growth rate of 163.67 per cent while other miscellaneous and general cargo grew by 18.53 per cent.
The ministry said the major ports also recorded the highest-ever capacity addition of 100.37 million tonnes during the current fiscal bringing it to over 1,065 million tonnes per annum (MTPA) compared to 965.36 MPTA in 2015-16.
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--IANS
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