Government awards 49 port projects worth Rs 8,341 crore in FY17

NEW DELHI: The government awarded 49 port projects with an investment of Rs 8,341 crore in the previous fiscal, which will result in capacity addition of 104 MT.

This was against a target of 102 million tonnes per annum ( MTPA) capacity augmentation.

"In respect of development of port infrastructure, 49 projects have been awarded with a capacity of 103.52 MTPA against a target of 102 MTPA with an investment of Rs 8,341.12 crore during the last fiscal," Shipping, Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari told PTI.

He said concerted efforts to improve port infrastructure have resulted in the highest ever capacity addition of 100.59 MT in major ports during the last fiscal.

"Major ports capacity during 2015-16 was 965.36 MTPA. This crossed 1,065 MTPA during 2016-17," the minister said.

India has 12 major ports -- Kandla, Mumbai, JNPT, Marmugao, New Mangalore, Cochin, Chennai, Ennore, V O Chidambaranar, Visakhapatnam, Paradip and Kolkata (including Haldia) which handle approximately 61 per cent of the country's total cargo traffic.

Boosted by a slew of steps, the major ports surpassed private players by handling a record 647.43 million tonnes of cargo in 2016-17.

They registered an annual growth rate of 6.79 per cent in cargo handling against 4.32 per cent in 2015-16, whereas private ports annual growth rate stood around 4 per cent in the just-concluded fiscal.