Major ports handle 47 MT cargo in April, up 9%

India's 12 major ports handled 47 million tonne cargo, up 9 per cent year-on-year, in April - the first month of the current financial year.
"Tuticorin Port (V.O. Chidambaranar) recorded highest growth in traffic by 36.3 per cent last month followed by Mumbai (31 per cent) and Murmugao (23.2 per cent) in comparison to the April month last year," said an official statement by the Shipping Ministry.
Kanlda port handled over 6.9 MT cargo last month, the highest among the ports, with a share of 14.7 per cent, followed by Paradip port which handled over 6.4 MT.
"In all, over 47 MT (cargo) was handled last month by various major ports of the country," the statement said.

Among commodities, there was an increase of 25 per cent in handling of fertilisers last month, compared to April 2013.
Iron ore handling has shown a sharp increase of 16.8 per cent against negative growth of 62.3 per cent in the previous year, the statement said.
Total cargo traffic at India's major ports during 2013-14 stood at 555.50 MT, an increase by 1.8 per cent, compared with 545.83 MT handled in 2012-13.
The 12 major ports - Kandla, Mumbai, JNPT, Marmugao, New Managlore, Cochin, Chennai, Ennore, V O Chidambarnar, Visakhapatnam, Paradip and Kolkata (including Haldia) - handle 61 per cent of the country's total cargo traffic.