Kolkata Port registers 14.75% jump in cargo handling in Apr-Jan of FY23

Kolkata Port, now known as the Syama Prasad Mookerjee Port, on Friday said it has posted a record cargo handling of 54.254 million tonne in the first 10 months of the current fiscal, registering a 14.75 per cent growth over the same period last year.

This achievement helped the riverine port rank fifth among Indian major ports, up from its previous sixth position, port chairman P L Haranadh said.

SMP Kolkata manages two dock systems-Haldia Dock Complex (HDC) and Kolkata Dock System (KDS).

HDC handled 40.162 million tonne of cargo and KDS 14.092 million tonne during the April-January period of the current fiscal.

Both the dock system logged year-on-year growth of over 15 per cent, he said.

The rail-borne traffic expanded to 28.823 million tonne was a significant factor to the port's achievement.

Haranadh attributed diverse and the arrival of new and additional cargo to the record performance.

The major commodities that contributed to the growth of traffic were LPG, vegetable oil, manganese ore, iron and steel, pulses/peas, coking and non-coking coal, fly ash, and limestone.

"SMP Kolkata is expected to handle more than 65 million tonne of cargo by the end of 2022-23, an increase from 58.175 million tonne handled in the 2021-22 financial year," Haranadh said.

The port is aiming at advancing the implementation targets of the Rs 2,400 crore projects under the National Gati Shakti' plan to improve its infrastructure to meet the growing demand and induce efficiency, the official said.

It is also planning to make Kolkata a leading cruising centre of the eastern region and contemplated a Rs 66-crore comprehensive project to develop three to four cruise terminals along with riverfront beautification and commercial development on a 31-acre plot at Khidderpore area in south-western part of the city.