Cargo traffic handled by major ports up 4.77% in FY18

Buoyed by pick up in demand, India's 12 major ports saw cargo traffic rise by 4.77 per cent to 679.35 million tonnes (MT) during the just concluded fiscal, as per ports body IPA. These top ports under the Centre had handled 648.39 MT of cargo during 2016-17.\ Increased demand from various sectors including coal, containers, fertilisers and POL (petroleum, oil and lubricant) was the main reason behind the growth in traffic, as per Indian Ports Association (IPA) data. Coking coal volumes handled by the 12 ports surged by 8.62 per cent to 50.59 million tonnes (MT) during the last fiscal while container volumes too rose 8.08 per cent. Fertiliser volumes saw a growth of 7.22 per cent during the fiscal. As per the figures, Kandla port handled the highest traffic volume at 110.09 MT during 2017-18, followed by Paradip Port (102.01 MT), JNPT (66 MT), Visakhapatnam (63.53 MT) and Mumbai Port (62.82 MT). Chennai port handled 51.88 MT of cargo while Kolkata Port including Haldia handled 57.88 MT. Volume of seaborne cargo is essentially in the nature of derived demand and is mainly shaped by the levels and changes in both the global and domestic activity. India has 12 major ports -- Kandla, Mumbai, JNPT, Marmugao, New Mangalore, Cochin, Chennai, Ennore, V O Chidambarnar, Visakhapatnam, Paradip and Kolkata (including Haldia) which handle approximately 61 per cent of the country's total cargo traffic.