No port in the country has attracted more attention and generated more debate about its future than the Kolkata Port Trust (KPT), which operates the 3,300 acre Kolkata Dock System (KDS) and 6,678-acre Haldia Dock System (HDS) and facilities at Budge Budge and Howrah. Besides having 14,000 workers and a mind-boggling 26,000 pensioners, KPT also has the only surviving Dock Labour Board (DLB) in the country, with all its attendant cost implications.
Cargo volumes and profits have been rising at Haldia and declining at Kolkata, raising questions about the latter
