The Business Bytes
TBB BUREAU
BHUBANESWAR, SEPT 14, 2022
In its bid to increase the business volume from Odisha, the Syama Prasad Mookerjee Port of Kolkata (SMPK) evinces interest in tapping seafood export opportunities from the State.
This was stated by the SMPK Chairman Vinit Kumar during an interactive session with the stakeholders of the seafood export sector here today regarding business prospects and issues faced by them.
The port officials sought feedback from the marine exporters of Odisha regarding providing better facilities and improvement in the services to meet their needs for better business opportunities.
Stating that the Syama Prasad Mookerjee Port of Kolkata is laying emphasis on increasing the partnership and developing better relationship with the seafood exporters of Odisha, Vinit Kumar said, “We’ll try to fulfill your expectations so that both of us can benefit through the valuable partnership, good service and lower cost.”
The port includes Kolkata Dock System (KDS) and Haldia Dock Complex (HDC). The logistics ecosystem is suited for handling and movement of bulk and containerised cargo. It has an adequate storage area and robust rail network, which enables smooth handling and dispatch of the same.
The port urged the stakeholders to use the Kolkata dock’s infrastructure for reefer or refrigerated cargo ship, which is typically used to transport perishable cargo like fruits and seafood.
SMPK has always extended several benefits, remissions, and facilities to support the dry bulk/containerized cargo movement and necessary convenience to the trade which significantly reduced the overall logistics cost, said Vinit Kumar while inviting the stakeholders to use the reefer infrastructure of Kolkata Dock System, for which SMPK assures to extend all possible assistance including suitable rebate on cost of port charges if required. It is offering to provide 15 per cent rebate on reefer plug-in charges as well.
At present KDS handles meat, fresh fruits (mainly apples, pears), dry fruits, shrimps, seafood, and medicines as perishable cargo. KDS and SMPK handled 19,000 TEUs of loaded and 9,500 TEUs of empty refrigerated containers in last financial year, and to commensurate with growing demand of reefer container, reefer parks with 408 reefer plugs have been installed recently.
Speaking about the ongoing modernisation and investment in infrastructure at the Port, the Chairman informed that the port was putting efforts to connect with Bangladesh and the northeastern region of India through small barges.
“Recently, we have connected Meghalaya and Tripura through the Chittagong port in Bangladesh. So, we can explore the opportunities there for seafood exports,” he said.
Among others, SMPK Deputy Chairman Samrat Rahi, and Traffic Manager RS Rajhans, and Calcutta Customs House Agents Association President Sudip Dey were present on the occasion.
