Average efficiency of ports increases

 The sluggish performance by the Mumbai, Kolkata, and Kandla ports has taken the sheen off the improvement in efficiency of the 12 major ports, according to the Indian Ports Association (IPA).

 While the all-India average for turnaround time for a vessel improved 15 per cent to 2.6 days in 2002-03 from 3.02 days in 2001-02, seven ports have actually recorded a better turnaround time. Turnaround time is the time taken by a vessel to unload and leave a port.

 Mumbai had the highest turnaround time of 3.6 days in 2002-03, followed by Kandla, at 3.1days. A senior port official said the poor performance of Kandla, Mumbai and Kolkata was due to their inherent problems.

 Both Mumbai and Kolkata, for instance, still handled dry and break bulk cargo manually, while other ports had introduced a mechanised system, which sharply reduced their turnaround times.

 Kandla, on the other hand, had the problem of