The Business Bytes
TBB BUREAU
PARADIP, DEC 20, 2023
Showcasing its unwavering commitment to excellence and efficiency in cargo handling, Paradip Port achieved yet another 100 million metric tonnes (MMT) of cargo handling in the shortest time in its history. It has once again repeated the feat by crossing the 100 MMT mark, 7th year in succession and achieved cargo throughput of 100.28 MMT on December 18 in the current fiscal.
Notably, in FY2022-23 the coveted mark of 100 MMT was achieved on January 9, 2023. Thus, the record was achieved in 22 days in advance i.e. in 262 days in current fiscal against 284 days in last financial year, by exhibiting 9.64 per cent growth in total cargo throughput. Thus, this century is the fastest by PPA, in its history.
Marking the occasion, symbolic cake cutting was done on Wednesday at Board Room Paradip Port Authority Chairman PL Haranadh in the presence of other HoDs and Deputy HoDs.
For this remarkable feat, the PPA Chairman expressed his gratitude to Union Shipping Minister Sarbananda Sonowal under whose inspiration, dynamic leadership and guidance, PPA could achieve incredible success. He congratulated all officers and employees, the user industries, stevedores, steamer agents, trade unions, PPP operators for such amazing accomplishments. Haranadh also appreciated the support of Govt. authorities like Ministry of Ports, Shipping & Waterways, Odisha Government, Indian Railways, Customs and other departments for their continued support.
The Port has also registered remarkable improvement in the key performance parameters. Berth productivity stands at 32,689 MT per day per ship, which is the highest among all Major Ports of the country. The vessel turn-round-time is recorded as 42.01 hours as against 47.60 hours during the corresponding period of previous year. Similarly, Pre-Berthing Detention is 1.18 hours as against 1.73 hours during the corresponding period of the previous year. Thus, Paradip Port is emerging as a coastal shipping hub of the country and started coastal shipping of thermal coal to west coast, for the first time in history, i.e. Maharashtra-based power plants. It further plans to expand coastal shipping of thermal coal to other regions in the west coast.
The Port is poised to set an all time record cargo handling of more than 145 MMT in the current fiscal. Various system improvement measures, introduced by the Port during this year, fuelled growth. Outbound Iron Ore and Pellet has shown remarkable 69.03 per cent growth in comparison to previous fiscal. Last fiscal, it amounted to 10.56 MMT over the same time period, whereas till 18th December, it stands at 17.85 MMT in the current fiscal. Coastal Thermal Coal handling constitutes about 30.38 per cent of total cargo volume handled at the Port.
The Port’s commitment to operational excellence, coupled with strategic improvements in cargo handling, has positioned it as a key player in catering to the growing needs of the industry.
