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Paradip Port becomes highest cargo handling major port of the country
The Pradip Port Authority in Odisha has beaten the the Deendayal Port, Kandla, Gujarat, that held the record for last 16 years
The Paradip Port in Odisha has become the highest cargo handling major port of the country in the financial year 2023-24 with 145.38 million metric tonnes (MMT) cargo throughput, beating the Deendayal Port, Kandla, Gujarat, that held the record for last 16 years, officials said.
According to a statement issued by the Ministry of Ports and Shipping And Waterways,the Pradip Port Authority (PPA), for the first time in its 56 years of operation, has broken the previous records, set by Deendayal Port. The Paradip Port has also recorded a growth of 10.02 million metric tonnes (7.4 per cent) of traffic on a year-on-year basis, according to the statement.
The Deendayal Port Authority has been holding the pole position in cargo handling among the 12 major ports for last 16 years. For the last 4-5 years, Kandla was No 1 and Paradip was No 2, with the difference between them hardly 1-2 million tonnes. The Paradip Port currently has a capacity to handle 289.75 MMT of cargo.
During the last financial year, the Paradip port also achieved the highest-ever coastal shipping traffic of 59.19 million metric tonnes, with a growth of 0.76 million metric tonnes, which is 1.30 per cent higher than the previous year. The thermal coal coastal shipping has reached 43.97 million metric tonnes, which is a 4.02 per cent increase over the previous year.
During the financial year, the port handled 21,665 rakes, registering a growth of 7.65 per cent over the previous financial year. It has also handled 2,710 ships, registering an increase of 13.82 per cent. The increased performance in cargo handling has been driven by various system improvement measures undertaken by the port during the financial year, which include an improved system of operation at a mechanised coal handling plant.
The Paradip Port was also able to improve its berth productivity to 33,014 MMT from 31,050 MMT in the previous financial year, registering a 6.33 per cent growth. This has reduced the idle time between rake unloading and resulted in the highest handling of thermal coal at 27.12 million metric tonnes.
In the last financial year, the Operating revenue of the Port crossed ₹2,300 crores against ₹2,074 crores of the previous fiscal.
Paradip was the first major port commissioned on India’s eastern coast after independence and it serves Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and West Bengal apart from Odisha. The port handles cargo such as crude oil, POL (Petroleum, Oils and Lubricants) products, iron ore, thermal coal, chrome ore, coking coal, manganese ore, charge chrome, ferro chrome, ferro manganese, limestone, hard coke, ingots and moulds, billets, finished steel, scrap, fertiliser, fertiliser raw material, clinker, gypsum, project cargo and containers.
Former chief minister Biju Patnaik was the brain behind the construction of the Paradip Port. The then prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru laid the foundation stone of the port on January 3, 1962. It was inaugurated by the then prime minister of Yugoslavia, Peter Stambolic, on March 12, 1966.
