Paradip Port handles record 12.6 million tonne cargo in December

New Delhi: Paradip Port Authority (PPA) signed off 2022 by clocking highest ever monthly cargo throughput among all major ports in the country. The port handled a record 12.6 million metric tonne (MMT) of cargo in December.

Till December, the port in Odisha had handled 96.81 MMT cargo against 83.6 MMT in the corresponding period of the previous financial year.

“The New Year 2023 is going to augur well for the Port, as it is all set to cross the coveted 100 MMT cargo handling mark, in the month of January itself,” the Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways said in a statement on Monday.

The port is expected to set an all-time record cargo handling of more than 125 MMT in the current fiscal ending March 2023.

“Various system improvement measures, introduced by the port during this year, fuelled growth to the tune of 15.5% over last year. Coastal thermal coal handling has shown a remarkable 58.11% growth in comparison to the previous fiscal and it also constitutes about 31.56 per cent of total cargo volume handled at the Port,” the ministry’s statement said.

Paradip Port is emerging as a shipping hub. The port has plans to ship thermal coal to power houses, located in Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and Haryana.

During the year 2020-21, Paradip Port Trust achieved all time traffic throughput of 114.55 million metric tonnes.