JNPT’s exemplary Ànancial report card
Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust (JNPT) has up-scaled its performance to close the financial year 2019 on a high note. Apart from crossing five million TEUs mark, JNPT also handled a record 4.71 lakh TEUs in March alone.
Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust (JNPT) achieved 5.13 million TEUs in container handling, which is a 6.2 per cent increase from the last financial year which closed at 4.83 million TEUs. The Port has handled 4.71 lakh TEUs in March, which is the highest number for any month.
Sanjay Sethi, Chairman, JNPT, said, “While the global markets did well this financial year which reflects in our business numbers, I would give equal credit to all the departments at JNPT who implemented many new initiatives which improved the overall efficiency of the Port and provided ease of doing business for our stakeholders.” Taking an overview of the numbers, JNPT registered an uptick in the traffic handled with a 6.2 per cent growth in container cargo volume during this financial year. Total liquid cargo volume handled during this year stood at a record 7.56 million tonnes reflecting not only a 5.25 per cent growth over the last financial year, but is also the highest liquid volume handled in any year. Looking at the respective terminal performance indicates that Gateway Terminal handled 2.04 million TEUs, port-owned JNPCT handled 1.05 million TEUs, NSIGT and NSICT together handled 1.50 million TEUs and the newly opened BMCTPL (Phase 1) accounted for 0.5 million TEUs. The overall tonnage of the cargo handled reflects a 7.12 per cent increase this financial year as compared to the last.
The overall performance numbers show a healthy growth so far and JNPT is already upgrading and expanding its facilities to match the growing demand and global trends of the maritime sector. The initiatives of DPD & ITT services, digitalisation & automation of various processes and better operational capabilities has helped to reduce its overall port dwell time which is a major boon for the EXIM community,
apart from saving time and significant trade cost. On the new initiatives front, the Port completed dredging of its navigational channels from 14 to 15 mts which will allow large vessels up to 12,500 TEUs to berth at the port. In the global market, the vessels are getting bigger to account for the increasing demand of business and this strategic move will equip JNPT to handle these large consignments, automatically leading to more container traffic and business growth.
GROWTH PROSPECTS
The Port-based SEZ is also developing a ‘Free Trade Warehousing Zone’, which will accentuate JNPT-SEZ as a preferred investment destination for both domestic and global companies. The land allocation at SEZ happens through a bidding process and already 75 acres of land has been awarded to 16 investors (15 plots for SMME and 1 plot for FTWZ facilities) through three rounds of e-tender cum e-auction process for setting up manufacturing units and FTWZ facilities at JNPT SEZ. The fourth round of bidding process is in progress. The growth of the SEZ project will also provide huge scope for employment and
development.
The overall tonnage of the cargo handled reflects a 7.12 per cent increase this financial year as compared to the last