Marginal rise in cargo handling at VPT

Visakhapatnam Port Trust (VPT) recorded a slight growth of 3.5 per cent in cargo handling in the first three quarters of the current fiscal, when compared to the corresponding period in the last fiscal.

Despite showing a moderate growth, VPT is still lagging behind the stipulated targets fixed by the ministry of shipping for the current fiscal.

In the current year during April-December, VPT handled 353.95 lakh tonne cargo, registering a growth of 3.5 per cent over the corresponding period of last fiscal.

The port is short of 15.64 lakh tonnes to reach the target of 369.59 tonnes fixed by the ministry of shipping for the current fiscal. The ministry fixed a target of 490 lakh tonnes for VPT in the current year after the port had achieved the number one status in cargo handling by handling 460 tonnes last year.

The port handled 135.89 lakh tonnes of petroleum products in the three quarters, as against 132.96 lakh tonnes during the corresponding period in the last fiscal .

In the case of iron ore, VPT handled 81.38 lakh tonnes in the first three quarters this year, as against 70.91 lakh tonnes in the corresponding period in the last fiscal.

"The ministry of shipping has fixed an abnormal target of 490 lakh tonnes for the year 2003-04, which is very difficult to reach. Though we handled 460 lakh tonnes of cargo in the last fiscal, we are finding it hard to handle an additional cargo of 30 lakh tonnes this year as there is heavy competition from other ports. It is true that we are lagging behind the targets, but we are ahead of last year's figures. We are confident of achieving 475-480 lakh tonnes of cargo by the end of this fiscal," said the VPT sources.