The Hindu Business Line : Ports fall short of target

Port traffic in the country has nearly doubled since 2000-01 but there has been no commensurate increase in port capacity. As a result, Indian ports are low on efficiency.

Santanu Sanyal

Figures released recently by the Indian Ports Association show that in the first nine months of the current fiscal, traffic growth in the country’s major ports was 3.43 per cent, at 391.8 million tonnes (mt), compared to 378.8 mt in the same period last fiscal.

However, the shortfall from the target of 426.3 mt was 8.10 per cent. Except Ennore and Kandla, no other ports achieved the targets set for them for the period, the extent of shortfall ranging from more than 15 per cent (Haldia and Paradip) to less than 1 per cent (Visakhapatnam). An interesting feature is that with a 9.63 per cent growth in traffic, at 44.1 mt during the period under review, Jawaharlal Nehru port (JNPT) climbed to third position, displacing Chennai.

The total traffic handled by major ports in the last quarter (October-December 2008) was 130 mt, compared to 134.6 mt in the same period last year — a drop of 3.42 per cent.

In fact, the iron ore traffic during the period, at 23.5 mt (24.5 mt) recorded a drop of more than 4 per cent. On the east coast, Visakhapatnam and Chennai ports experienced a sharp drop in iron ore throughput — Visakhapatnam 36 per cent at 3.2 mt (5 mt) and Chennai 37 per cent at 1.6 mt (2.5 mt).

Paradip, however, was an exception. At a throughput of 3.2 mt (2.9 mt), the growth in Paradip was more than 12 per cent. In fact, if we consider the total traffic handled by these three ports during the last quarter of 2008, we will find that except Paradip, the two other ports, namely, Chennai and Visakhapatnam, posted a negative growth — Visakhapatnam 12.4 per cent and Chennai 11.9 per cent. Paradip posted a positive growth, a meagre 0.5 per cent at 10.9 mt (10.8 mt).

On the west coast, Kandla posted 4.95 per cent growth at 17.8 mt (17 mt) during the quarter under review and retained the number one position but two other major ports, namely, Mumbai and JNPT, posted negative growth — Mumbai 17.73 per cent at 12.3 mt (15 mt) and JNPT 4.17 per cent at 13.757 mt (14.3 mt).

Box traffic

The container throughput during the nine-month period ended December 2008 at 51,40,000 TEUs showed a drop of more than 8 per cent from the target and a growth of about 5 per cent over the same period of last year.

However, in the October-December quarter 2008, the container throughput at 15,85,000 TEUs registered a decline of 4.75 per cent as compared to the throughput of 16,64,000 TEUs handled in the same period of the previous year. In fact, the country’s biggest container handling port JNPT posted a negative growth in container throughput during the quarter under review — 9,55,000 TEUs (10,31,000 TEUs).

Till recently, the ports were operating at 90 per cent capacity utilisation (as against the world average of 70 per cent) due to stagnant capacity which, in turn, lowered inefficiency.

Boost efficiency

The port traffic in the country has nearly doubled since 2000-01 (281.mt) but there has been no commensurate increase in port capacity. As a result, Indian ports are low on efficiency. According to one estimate, the time taken for clearing import cargo and shipping export cargo in Indian ports is 21 days and 19 days, respectively.

To tackle the capacity constraint, 76 berth construction projects are proposed to be taken up under the National Maritime Development Programme, to be implemented by 2011-12.

But does the solution lie in creating more berths? Perhaps not. While the construction of a berth will require an estimated Rs 50 crore on an average, the infrastructure needed to support the berth will cost many times more.

What is, therefore, needed is more efficient utilisation of existing berths. For stepping up infrastructure support, improving connectivity to the hinterland is critical.

According to one estimate, in terms of railway costs, Indian shippers incur 7.9 cents per km, compared to 2 cents in Canadian railways. The beyond-port logistics is plagued by poor planning and infrastructure which, in turn, clogs the ports.

Scrapping antiquated equipment and installing new, state-of-the art equipment too is important. Improving the draft should receive greater attention.

Fortunately, the NMDP also provides for projects for channel deepening, equipment acquisition and development of connectivity. How many of them will be actually implemented during the stipulated period is, of course, another matter.

Related Stories:
Major ports’ cargo traffic rises 2% in Dec quarter

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