Indian ports put down emphasis on increasing cargo handling capacity
Anticipating a hike in import and export traffic in the current fiscal and next, India’s leading ports are speeding up projects to increase the cargo handling capacity. Officials at Chennai Port, Thoothukudi’s V.O. Chidambaranar Port, Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust, Kolkata’s Syama Prasad Mookerjee Port, Mundra Port, and Cochin Port are looking for solutions to enhance cargo handling and eradicate supply chain bottlenecks. “The port is working to advance the timelines of the projects, worth nearly 1,700 crore, for augmenting capacity, modernizing infrastructure, monetisation of assets, and digitization of operations andcreating infrastructure over the next two years. The port is expected to speed up issuing tenders to modernise more berths at Haldia and to construct an extended gate to the port at Balagarh, 80 km from Kolkata,” said Vinit Kumar, Chairman, Kolkata Port said in a statement. The port has also made operational changes to lower the waiting time for ships and augment cargo handling.